Time sensitive networking for positioning

ABSTRACT

A wireless network including user equipment (UE) and base stations is configured to perform position determination with low latency and high availability within the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) framework. For example, the UE may be integrated as a sensor in a motion control system or similar applications. The UE and base stations are synchronized with the TSN clock, and are configured to perform positioning measurements at a specific time point within the TSN framework. The time point, for example, may be a global sampling point, at which all sensor nodes in the TSN framework perform position measurements. A location server may be provided with the positioning measurements or a position estimate from the UE and provide the position estimate to an external client, such as a motion controller in a motion control system.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 119

This application claims under 35 U.S.C. § 119 the benefit of andpriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/011,863, filed Apr. 17,2020, and entitled “TIME SENSITIVE NETWORKING FOR POSITIONING,” which isassigned to the assignee hereof and is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communicationsand the like.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data,Internet-capable wireless service, and a fourth-generation (4G) service(e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax). There are presently manydifferent types of wireless communication systems in use, includingcellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples ofknown cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile PhoneSystem (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access(GSM) variation of TDMA, etc.

A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transferspeeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among otherimprovements. The 5G standard (also referred to as “New Radio” or “NR”),according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designedto provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each oftens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workerson an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneousconnections should be supported in order to support large sensordeployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobilecommunications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current4G/LTE standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhancedand latency should be substantially reduced compared to currentstandards.

Certain location use cases require very high accuracy and low latency inprovision of a location of a mobile device to an external client.Examples include: smart (automated) factories and warehouses where thepositions of tools, objects being fabricated and packages may need to beknown with an accuracy of 10 centimeters (cms) or less and with alatency of less than 1 second; drones where a location accurate to 1meter may need to be known within a second; public safety firstresponders at a dangerous location (e.g. inside a burning or partiallycollapsed building); and user cases associated with moving vehicles andpedestrians (known as V2X). Other user cases associated with very highlocation accuracy may also have very low latency requirements due to arapid deterioration in location accuracy for a moving object. Forexample, even at only 4 mph (normal walking speed), an object would move1.79 meters in 1 second, thereby nullifying the benefit of 1 meterlocation accuracy after less than 1 second. Desired accuracy and latencyrequirements for positioning information in use cases, such asindustrial control loops, cannot be obtained with current wirelesslocation solutions.

SUMMARY

A wireless network including user equipment (UE) and base stations isconfigured to perform position determination with low latency and highavailability within the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) framework. Forexample, the UE may be integrated as a sensor in a motion control systemor similar applications. The UE and base stations are synchronized withthe TSN clock, and are configured to perform positioning measurements ata specific time point within the TSN framework. The time point, forexample, may be a global sampling point, at which all sensor nodes inthe TSN framework perform position measurements. A location server maybe provided with the positioning measurements or a position estimatefrom the UE and provide the position estimate to an external client,such as a motion controller in a motion control system.

In one implementation, a method performed by an entity in a wirelessnetwork of positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes receiving a location request message that includes afirst time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework forperforming positioning measurements for the UE; receiving positioningreference signals (PRS) from one or more other entities in the wirelessnetwork; performing the positioning measurements using the PRS from theone or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for performing thepositioning measurement; and transmitting to a location server alocation information report related to the positioning measurements.

In one implementation, an entity in a wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes an external interface configured to wirelesslycommunicate with a network entity in the wireless network; at least onememory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and theat least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto: receive, via the external interface, a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE; receive,via the external interface, positioning reference signals (PRS) from oneor more other entities in the wireless network; perform the positioningmeasurements using the PRS from the one or more other entities at thefirst time point within the TSN framework specified in the locationrequest message for performing the positioning measurements; andtransmit, via the external interface, to a location server a locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements.

In one implementation, an entity in a wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes means for receiving a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE; means forreceiving positioning reference signals (PRS) from one or more otherentities in the wireless network; means for performing positioningmeasurements using the PRS from the one or more other entities at thefirst time point within the TSN framework specified in the locationrequest message for performing the positioning measurements; and meansfor transmitting to a location server a location information reportrelated to the positioning measurements.

In one implementation, a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumincluding program code stored thereon, the program code is operable toconfigure at least one processor in an entity in a wireless network toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes program code including instructions to receive alocation request message that includes a first time point within a timesensitive networking (TSN) framework for performing positioningmeasurements for the UE; program code to receive positioning referencesignals (PRS) from one or more other entities in the wireless network;program code to perform the positioning measurements using the PRS fromthe one or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for performing thepositioning measurements; and program code to transmit to a locationserver a location information report related to the positioningmeasurements.

In one implementation, a method performed by an entity in a wirelessnetwork of positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes receiving a positioning reference signals (PRS)transmission request message that includes a first time point within atime sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS; andtransmitting the PRS at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for transmitting the PRS.

In one implementation, an entity in the wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes an external interface configured to wirelesslycommunicate with a network entity in the wireless network; at least onememory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and theat least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto: receive, via the external interface, a positioning reference signals(PRS) transmission request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS;and transmit, via the external interface, the PRS at the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the PRS transmission requestmessage for transmitting the PRS.

In one implementation, an entity in the wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes means for receiving a positioning reference signals(PRS) transmission request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS;and means for transmitting the PRS at the first time point within theTSN framework specified in the PRS transmission request message fortransmitting the PRS.

In one implementation, a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumincluding program code stored thereon, the program code is operable toconfigure at least one processor in an entity in a wireless network toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, includes program code including instructions to receive apositioning reference signals (PRS) transmission request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for transmitting PRS; and program code to transmit the PRS atthe first time point within the TSN framework specified in the PRStransmission request message for transmitting the PRS.

In one implementation, a method performed by a location server in awireless network of positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, includes receiving a first location request messagefrom a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a first timepoint within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework; transmittingto one or more entities in the wireless network a second locationrequest message requesting positioning measurements for the UE to beperformed at the first time point received in the first location requestmessage; receiving a location information report from the one or moreentities based on positioning measurements for the UE performed at thefirst time point; determining a position estimate for the UE based onthe location information report; and transmitting the position estimatefor the UE to the first entity.

In one implementation, a location server in a wireless networkconfigured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, includes an external interface configured towirelessly communicate with a network entity in the wireless network; atleast one memory; at least one processor coupled to the externalinterface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to: receive, via the external interface, a firstlocation request message from a first entity requesting locations forthe UE at a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework; transmit, via the external interface, to one or more entitiesin the wireless network a second location request message requestingpositioning measurements for the UE to be performed at the first timepoint received in the first location request message; receive, via theexternal interface, a location information report from the one or moreentities based on positioning measurements for the UE performed at thefirst time point; determine a position estimate for the UE based on thelocation information report; and transmit, via the external interface,the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.

In one implementation, a location server in a wireless networkconfigured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, includes means for receiving a first location requestmessage from a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a firsttime point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework; means fortransmitting to one or more entities in the wireless network a secondlocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEto be performed at the first time point received in the first locationrequest message; means for receiving a location information report fromthe one or more entities based on positioning measurements for the UEperformed at the first time point; means for determining a positionestimate for the UE based on the location information report; and meansfor transmitting the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.

In one implementation, a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumincluding program code stored thereon, the program code is operable toconfigure at least one processor in an location server in a wirelessnetwork to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, includes program code including instructions toreceive a first location request message from a first entity requestinglocations for the UE at a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework; program code to transmit to one or moreentities in the wireless network a second location request messagerequesting positioning measurements for the UE to be performed at thefirst time point received in the first location request message; programcode to receive a location information report from the one or moreentities based on positioning measurements for the UE performed at thefirst time point; program code to determine a position estimate for theUE based on the location information report; and program code totransmit the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description ofvarious aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely forillustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system,according to various aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures,according to various aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a design of base station and userequipment (UE), which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEsin FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a structure of an exemplary subframe sequencewith positioning reference signal (PRS) positioning occasions.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications systemimplementing positioning using a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA)technique.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications systemimplementing positioning using a Round Trip Time (RTT) with multiplebase stations (multi-RTT) technique.

FIG. 7 illustrates a motion control system in a Time-SensitiveNetworking (TSN) framework that may include a UE as a position sensor.

FIG. 8 illustrates a 5G and TSN clock distribution model for clocksynchronization.

FIG. 9 illustrates aligned timelines for a controller, UE, base station,location server, and TSN time.

FIG. 10 is a message flow for a wireless network performing positioningwithin the TSN framework.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for an exemplary method for performingpositioning of a UE within the TSN framework performed by an entity in awireless network.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for an exemplary method for performingpositioning of a UE within the TSN framework performed by an entity in awireless network.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for an exemplary method for performingpositioning of a UE within the TSN framework performed by a locationserver in a wireless network.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a UE enabled to perform positioning within the TSNframework. [in general, for UE apparatus diagrams, we should alsoinclude WLAN transceiver and other short range transceiver such asBluetooth, etc. We may also need to include SPS receiver, etc. We maynot want to change this now but keep this in mind for future cases]

FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a base station in a wireless network enabled to performpositioning within the TSN framework.

FIG. 16 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a location server in a wireless network enabled to performpositioning within the TSN framework.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description andrelated drawings directed to various examples provided for illustrationpurposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from thescope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of thedisclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “servingas an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described hereinas “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term“aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of thedisclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode ofoperation.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information andsignals described below may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the description below may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending inpart on the particular application, in part on the desired design, inpart on the corresponding technology, etc.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions tobe performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will berecognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s)of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that,upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of adevice to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the variousaspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of differentforms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of theclaimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects describedherein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be describedherein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the describedaction.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” arenot intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular RadioAccess Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may beany wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch,glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.),vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet ofThings (IoT) device, etc.), sensors, instruments, and other devicesnetworked together in industrial applications (Industrial Internet ofThings (IIot)), used by a user to communicate over a wirelesscommunications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certaintimes) be stationary, and may communicate with a Radio Access Network(RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeablyas an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,”a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,”a “user terminal” or UT, a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” orvariations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core networkvia a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected withexternal networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course,other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internetare also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks,wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11,etc.) and so on.

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs incommunication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed,and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a networknode, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (alsoreferred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. In addition, in some systems abase station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while inother systems it may provide additional control and/or networkmanagement functions. A communication link through which UEs can sendsignals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., areverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel,etc.). A communication link through which the base station can sendsignals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g.,a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forwardtraffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH)can refer to either an UL/reverse or DL/forward traffic channel.

The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmissionpoint or to multiple physical transmission points that may or may not beco-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to asingle physical transmission point, the physical transmission point maybe an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell of the basestation. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-locatedphysical transmission points, the physical transmission points may be anarray of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the basestation. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-locatedphysical transmission points, the physical transmission points may be adistributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separatedantennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or aremote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a servingbase station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical transmissionpoints may be the serving base station receiving the measurement reportfrom the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference RF signals theUE is measuring.

Wireless positioning has been proposed for use cases requiring highlevels of accuracy and low latency. For example, one proposedimplementation is a wireless positioning service for Industrial ToT(TToT), in which a UE may be, or may be attached to or embedded inside,some tool, object, pan, or component being used in a smart (automated)factory or may be attached to or embedded inside a package, object orcomponent in a smart (automated) warehouse or supply depot. Such UEs mayneed to be located with high accuracy in order to allow fast, efficient,and smooth operation of the smart factory, warehouse, or supply depot.Industrial control loops that may be implemented in the “Factory of theFuture” will rely on accurate positioning information. Several “servicelevels” with different requirements in terms of accuracy and latencyhave been specified (by the Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)), as indicated in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Latency for Corresponding position Positioning HorizontalVertical estimation UE Service Level Scenario accuracy accuracyAvailability Heading of UE Speed in TS 22.261 Mobile control <5 m <3 m90% N/A <5 s N/A Service Level panels with 2 safety functions(non-danger zones) Process <1 m <3 m 90% N/A <2 s <30 km/h Service Levelautomation - 3 plant asset management Flexible, <1 m N/A 99% N/A 1 s <30km/h Service Level modular (relative 3 assembly area in positioning)smart factories (for tracking of tools at the work-place location)Augmented <1 m <3 m 99% <0.17 rad <15 ms <10 km/h Service Level realityin smart 4 factories Mobile control <1 m <3 m 99.9%  <0.54 rad <1 s N/AService Level panels with 4 safety functions in smart factories (withinfactory danger zones) Flexible, <50 cm <3 m 99% N/A 1 s <30 km/h ServiceLevel modular 5 assembly area in smart factories (for autonomousvehicles, only for monitoring proposes) Inbound <30 cm (if <3 m 99.9% N/A 10 ms <30 km/h Service Level logistics for supported 6 manufacturingby further (for driving sensors like trajectories (if camera, supportedby GNSS, further sensors IMU) like camera, GNSS, IMU) of indoorautonomous driving systems)) Inbound <20 cm <20 cm 99% N/A <1 s <30 km/hService Level logistics for 7 manufacturing (for storage of goods)

While these requirements for various service levels shown in TABLE 1,have been proposed, how to achieve these requirements, e.g., andintegrate within a conventional industrial control loop is not currentlyunderstood.

Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is a set of standards under developmentwithin the IEEE 802.1 Working Group within the Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers Standards Association. TSN targets very lowlatency and high availability of real-time control streams in industrialfacilities. There are three basic components within the TSNspecification. One component is time synchronization, e.g., every nodewithin the communication network is required to have a commonunderstanding of time. Another component is the scheduling and trafficshaping, e.g., all nodes are required to process and forwardcommunication packets by respecting same rules. Another component iscommunication paths selection, in which the path reservation and faulttolerance are specified by the shared rules. TSN was initially developedfor Ethernet networks, but has been proposed to extend to work withwireless networks, such as Fifth Generation (5G) wireless network, toutilize the full potential of industrial control combined with mobilesensors/actuators. However, no existing solutions for wireless networksappear able to achieve the necessary time synchronization component forTSN.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an example wireless network 100. The wirelesscommunications system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network(WWAN)) includes base stations 102, UEs 104, and one or more corenetworks, illustrated as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and a FifthGeneration Core (5GC) 190. While two core networks are shown thewireless communications system may use only one core network, e.g., the5GC 190. The base stations 102 may include macrocells (high powercellular base station) or small cells (low power cellular base station).The macrocells include base stations. The small cells includefemtocells, picocells, and microcells.

The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE, referred to as eNodeBs(eNBs), (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 through backhaul links 132(such as the S1 interface). The base stations 102 configured for 5G NR,referred to as gNodeBs (gNBs), (collectively referred to as NextGeneration RAN (NG-RAN)) may interface with 5GC 190 through backhaullinks 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 mayperform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data,radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, headercompression, mobility control functions (such as handover, dualconnectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setupand release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS)messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network(RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriberand equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging,positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 maycommunicate directly or indirectly (such as through the EPC 160 or 5GC190) with each other over backhaul links 134 (such as the X2 interface).The backhaul links 134 may be wired or wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102′ may havea coverage area 110′ that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or moremacro base stations 102. A “cell” is a logical communication entity usedfor communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequencyresource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier,carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier(e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier(VCID)) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a differentcarrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configuredaccording to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication(MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), orothers) that may provide access for different types of UEs. In somecases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of abase station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can bedetected and used for communication within some portion of geographiccoverage areas 110.

A network that includes both small cell and macrocells may be known as aheterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network also may include HomeEvolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs), which may provide service to arestricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG). Thecommunication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmissionsfrom a UE 104 to a base station 102 or downlink (DL) (also referred toas forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. Thecommunication links 120 may use multiple-input and multiple-output(MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming,or transmit diversity. The communication links may be through one ormore carriers. The base stations 102/UEs 104 may use spectrum up to YMHz (such as 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, etc.)bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to atotal of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in eachdirection. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other.Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (suchas more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL).

In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., basestations 102/180, UEs 104/182) operate is divided into multiplefrequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In amulti-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies isreferred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primaryserving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies arereferred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or“SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrieroperating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radioresource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiatesthe RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carriercarries all common and UE-specific control channels. A secondary carrieris a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may beconfigured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 andthe anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radioresources. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signalinginformation and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may notbe present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink anddownlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that differentUEs 104/182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. Thesame is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able tochange the primary carrier of any UE 104/182 at any time. This is done,for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a“serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrierfrequency/component carrier over which some base station iscommunicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,”“carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device(D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use theDL/UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or moresidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel(PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physicalsidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel(PSCCH). D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2Dcommunications systems, such as for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia,Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

The small cell 102′ may operate in a licensed or an unlicensed frequencyspectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the smallcell 102′ may employ NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequencyspectrum as used by a Wi-Fi AP. The small cell 102′, employing NR in anunlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to or increasecapacity of the access network.

A base station 102, whether a small cell 102′ or a large cell (such as amacro base station), may include an eNB, gNodeB (gNB), or another typeof base station. Some base stations, such as gNB 180, may operate in atraditional sub 6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, ornear mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 104. When the gNB 180operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred toas a millimeter wave or mmW base station. Extremely high frequency (EHF)is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters.Radio waves in the band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. NearmmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHzand 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications usingthe mmW/near mmW radio frequency band (such as between 3 GHz-300 GHz)has extremely high path loss and a short range. The mmW base station 180may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for theextremely high path loss and short range.

The base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 inone or more transmit directions 182′. The UE 104 may receive thebeamformed signal from the base station 180 in one or more receivedirections 182″. The UE 104 also may transmit a beamformed signal to thebase station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station180 may receive the beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or morereceive directions. The base station 180 and UE 104 may perform beamtraining to determine the best receive and transmit directions for eachof the base station 180 and UE 104. The transmit and receive directionsfor the base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit andreceive directions for the UE 104 may or may not be the same.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in aspecific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a basestation) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in alldirections (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the networknode determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located(relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a strongerdownlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing afaster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receivingdevice(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal whentransmitting, a network node can control the phase and relativeamplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters thatare broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use anarray of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antennaarray”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to pointin different directions, without actually moving the antennas.Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to theindividual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that theradio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase theradiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiationin undesired directions.

In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RFsignals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver canincrease the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array ofantennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase thegain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when areceiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beamgain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along otherdirections, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest comparedto the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams availableto the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength(e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) ofthe RF signals received from that direction.

The EPC 160, by way of example, may include a Mobility Management Entity(MME) 162, an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) 164, aServing Gateway 166, a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 168, a HomeSecure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP) 170, and aPacket Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be incommunication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connectionmanagement. The E-SMLC 164 may support location determination of theUEs, e.g., using the 3GPP control plane (CP) location solution. All userInternet protocol (IP) packets are transferred through the ServingGateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDNGateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as otherfunctions. The PDN Gateway 172 is connected to the IP Services 176. TheIP Services 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and/or other IP services. TheGMLC 168 may provide location access to the UE on behalf of externalclients 169, e.g., that may be within or IP Services 176. The H-SLP 170may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) location solution defined by theOpen Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for UEsbased on subscription information for the UEs stored in H-SLP 170.

The 5GC 190 may include an H-SLP 191, an Access and Mobility ManagementFunction (AMF) 192, a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 193, aSession Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF)195, a Location Management Function (LMF) 196. The AMF 192 may be incommunication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 197. The AMF 192 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe 5GC 190 and which, for positioning functionality, may communicatewith the LMF 196, which may support location determination of UEs. Insome implementations, the LMF 196 may be co-located with a base station102 in the NG-RAN and may be referred to as a Location ManagementComponent (LMC). The GMLC 193 may be used to allow an external client199, outside or within IP Services 198, to receive location informationregarding the UEs. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets may betransferred through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP addressallocation as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to theIP Services 198. The H-SLP 191 may likewise be connected to the IPServices 198 The IP Services 198 may include the Internet, an intranet,an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS Streaming Service, and/or otherIP services.

The base station also may be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved NodeB (eNB), an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio basestation, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic serviceset (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit reception point(TRP), or some other suitable terminology. The base station 102 providesan access point to the EPC 160 or 5GC 190 for a UE 104. Examples of UEs104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiationprotocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), asatellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, avideo device, a digital audio player (such as an MP3 player), a camera,a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle,an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, ahealthcare device, an implant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or anyother similar functioning device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred toas IoT devices (such as a parking meter, gas pump, toaster, vehicles,heart monitor, etc.). Some of the UEs 104 may be referred to as IIoTdevices, such as sensors, instruments, and other devices networkedtogether, in an industrial application, e.g., within a factory 105. TheUE 104 also may be referred to as a station, a mobile station, asubscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, aremote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wirelesscommunications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, anaccess terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remoteterminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or someother suitable terminology.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. Forexample, an NGC 210 (also referred to as a “5GC”) can be viewedfunctionally as control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration,authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user planefunctions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IProuting, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network.User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215connect the gNB 222 to the NGC 210 and specifically to the control planefunctions 214 and user plane functions 212. In an additionalconfiguration, an eNB 224 may also be connected to the NGC 210 via NG-C215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user planefunctions 212. Further, eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the New RAN 220may only have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations includeone or more of both eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either gNB 222 or eNB 224 maycommunicate with UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs depicted in FIG. 1).Another optional aspect may include one or more location servers 230 a,230 b (sometimes collectively referred to as location server 230) (whichmay correspond to LMF 196), which may be in communication with thecontrol plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212, respectively,in the NGC 210 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The locationserver 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g.,physically separate servers, different software modules on a singleserver, different software modules spread across multiple physicalservers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.The location server 230 can be configured to support one or morelocation services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server230 via the core network, NGC 210, and/or via the Internet (notillustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into acomponent of the core network, or alternatively may be external to thecore network, e.g., in the New RAN 220.

FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. Forexample, an NGC 260 (also referred to as a “5GC”) can be viewedfunctionally as control plane functions, provided by an access andmobility management function (AMF) 264, user plane function (UPF) 262, asession management function (SMF) 266, SLP 268, and an LMF 270, whichoperate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., NGC 260). Userplane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB224 to the NGC 260 and specifically to UPF 262 and AMF 264,respectively. In an additional configuration, a gNB 222 may also beconnected to the NGC 260 via control plane interface 265 to AMF 264 anduser plane interface 263 to UPF 262. Further, eNB 224 may directlycommunicate with gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, with orwithout gNB direct connectivity to the NGC 260. In some configurations,the New RAN 220 may only have one or more gNBs 222, while otherconfigurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222.Either gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with UEs 204 (e.g., any ofthe UEs depicted in FIG. 1). The base stations of the New RAN 220communicate with the AMF 264 264 over the N2 interface and the UPF 262over the N3 interface.

The functions of the AMF include registration management, connectionmanagement, reachability management, mobility management, lawfulinterception, transport for session management (SM) messages between theUE 204 and the SMF 266, transparent proxy services for routing SMmessages, access authentication and access authorization, transport forshort message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the shortmessage service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchorfunctionality (SEAF). The AMF also interacts with the authenticationserver function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives theintermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS(universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module(USIM), the AMF retrieves the security material from the AUSF. Thefunctions of the AMF also include security context management (SCM). TheSCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-networkspecific keys. The functionality of the AMF also includes locationservices management for regulatory services, transport for locationservices messages between the UE 204 and the location managementfunction (LMF) 270 (which may correspond to LMF 196), as well as betweenthe New RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) beareridentifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobilityevent notification. In addition, the AMF also supports functionalitiesfor non-Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access networks.

Functions of the UPF include acting as an anchor point forintra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an externalprotocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to the datanetwork (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packetinspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating,redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user planecollection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handlingfor the user plane (e.g., UL/DL rate enforcement, reflective QoS markingin the DL), UL traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flowmapping), transport level packet marking in the UL and DL, DL packetbuffering and DL data notification triggering, and sending andforwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internetprotocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and controlof user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF toroute traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policyenforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface overwhich the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as theN11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be incommunication with the NGC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers(e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on asingle server, different software modules spread across multiplephysical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a singleserver. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more locationservices for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the corenetwork, NGC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated).

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a design 300 of base station 102 and UE104, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1.Base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 334 a through 334 t,and UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 352 a through 352 r, where ingeneral T≥1 and R≥1.

At base station 102, a transmit processor 320 may receive data from adata source 312 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation andcoding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channelquality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE, process (e.g., encodeand modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS(s)selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmitprocessor 320 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-staticresource partitioning information (SRPI) and/or the like) and controlinformation (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, and/orthe like) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmitprocessor 320 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals(e.g., the cell-specific reference signal (CRS)) and synchronizationsignals (e.g., the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondarysynchronization signal (SSS)). A transmit (TX) multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 may perform spatial processing(e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, the overheadsymbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide Toutput symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 332 a through 332 t. Eachmodulator 332 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., forOFDM and/or the like) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator332 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, andupconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Tdownlink signals from modulators 332 a through 332 t may be transmittedvia T antennas 334 a through 334 t, respectively. According to variousaspects described in more detail below, the synchronization signals canbe generated with location encoding to convey additional information.

At UE 104, antennas 352 a through 352 r may receive the downlink signalsfrom base station 102 and/or other base stations and may providereceived signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 354 a through 354 r,respectively. Each demodulator 354 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,down convert, and digitize) a received signal to obtain input samples.Each demodulator 354 may further process the input samples (e.g., forOFDM and/or the like) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 356may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 354 a through 354 r,perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, andprovide detected symbols. A receive processor 358 may process (e.g.,demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE104 to a data sink 360, and provide decoded control information andsystem information to a controller/processor 380. A channel processormay determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signalstrength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ),channel quality indicator (CQI), and/or the like. In some aspects, oneor more components of UE 104 may be included in a housing.

On the uplink, at UE 104, a transmit processor 364 may receive andprocess data from a data source 362 and control information (e.g., forreports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, and/or the like) fromcontroller/processor 380. Transmit processor 364 may also generatereference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols fromtransmit processor 364 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 366 ifapplicable, further processed by modulators 354 a through 354 r (e.g.,for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, and/or the like), and transmitted to basestation 102. At base station 102, the uplink signals from UE 104 andother UEs may be received by antennas 334, processed by demodulators332, detected by a MIMO detector 336 if applicable, and furtherprocessed by a receive processor 338 to obtain decoded data and controlinformation sent by UE 104. Receive processor 338 may provide thedecoded data to a data sink 339 and the decoded control information tocontroller/processor 340. Base station 102 may include communicationunit 344 and communicate to location server 390 via communication unit344. Location server 390, for example, may be LMF 196 or E-SMLC 164.Location server 390 may include communication unit 394,controller/processor 391, and memory 392.

Controller/processor 340 of base station 102, controller/processor 380of UE 104, and/or controller/processor 391 of location server 390 ofFIG. 3 may perform one or more techniques associated with performingpositioning of a UE within the TSN framework, as described in moredetail elsewhere herein. For example, controller/processor 340 of basestation 102, controller/processor 380 of UE 104, and/orcontroller/processor 391 of location server 390 may perform or directoperations of, for example, process 1100 of FIG. 11, process 1200 ofFIG. 12, process 1300 of FIG. 13, and/or other processes as describedherein. Memories 342, 382, and 392 may store data and program codes forbase station 102, UE 104, and location server 390, respectively. In someaspects, memory 342, and/or memory 382, and/or memory 392 may comprise anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructionsfor wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions,when executed by one or more processors of the base station 102, the UE104, or the location server 390, may perform or direct operations of,for example, process 1100 of FIG. 11, process 1200 of FIG. 12, orprocess 1300 of FIG. 13, and/or other processes as described herein. Ascheduler 346 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlinkand/or uplink.

As indicated above, FIG. 3 is provided as an example. Other examples maydiffer from what is described with regard to FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 shows a structure of an exemplary subframe sequence 400 withpositioning reference signal (PRS) positioning occasions, according toaspects of the disclosure. Subframe sequence 400 may be applicable tothe broadcast of PRS signals from a base station (e.g., any of the basestations described herein) or other network node. The subframe sequence400 may be used in LTE systems, and the same or similar subframesequence may be used in other communication technologies/protocols, suchas 5G and NR. In FIG. 4, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on theX axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency isrepresented vertically (e.g., on the Y axis) with frequency increasing(or decreasing) from bottom to top. As shown in FIG. 4, downlink anduplink radio frames 410 may be of 10 millisecond (ms) duration each. Fordownlink frequency division duplex (FDD) mode, radio frames 410 areorganized, in the illustrated example, into ten subframes 412 of 1 msduration each. Each subframe 412 comprises two slots 414, each of, forexample, 0.5 ms duration.

In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth may be divided intouniformly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 416 (also referred to as “tones”or “bins”). For example, for a normal length cyclic prefix (CP) using,for example, 15 kHz spacing, subcarriers 416 may be grouped into a groupof twelve (12) subcarriers. A resource of one OFDM symbol length in thetime domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain (represented as ablock of subframe 412) is referred to as a resource element (RE). Eachgrouping of the 12 subcarriers 416 and the 14 OFDM symbols is termed aresource block (RB) and, in the example above, the number of subcarriersin the resource block may be written as N_(SC) ^(RB)=12. For a givenchannel bandwidth, the number of available resource blocks on eachchannel 422, which is also called the transmission bandwidthconfiguration 422, is indicated as N_(RB) ^(DL). For example, for a 3MHz channel bandwidth in the above example, the number of availableresource blocks on each channel 422 is given by N_(RB) ^(DL)=15. Notethat the frequency component of a resource block (e.g., the 12subcarriers) is referred to as a physical resource block (PRB).

A base station may transmit radio frames (e.g., radio frames 410), orother physical layer signaling sequences, supporting PRS signals (i.e. adownlink (DL) PRS) according to frame configurations either similar to,or the same as that, shown in FIG. 4, which may be measured and used fora UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) position estimation. Othertypes of wireless nodes (e.g., a distributed antenna system (DAS),remote radio head (RRH), UE, AP, etc.) in a wireless communicationsnetwork may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in amanner similar to (or the same as) that depicted in FIG. 4.

A collection of resource elements that are used for transmission of PRSsignals is referred to as a “PRS resource.” The collection of resourceelements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., 1or more) consecutive symbol(s) within a slot 414 in the time domain. Forexample, the cross-hatched resource elements in the slots 414 may beexamples of two PRS resources. A “PRS resource set” is a set of PRSresources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRSresource has a PRS resource identifier (ID). In addition, the PRSresources in a PRS resource set are associated with the sametransmission-reception point (TRP). A PRS resource ID in a PRS resourceset is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP(where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). Note that this does nothave any implications on whether the TRPs and beams from which signalsare transmitted are known to the UE.

PRS may be transmitted in special positioning subframes that are groupedinto positioning occasions. A PRS occasion is one instance of aperiodically repeated time window (e.g., consecutive slot(s)) where PRSare expected to be transmitted. Each periodically repeated time windowcan include a group of one or more consecutive PRS occasions. Each PRSoccasion can comprise a number N_(PRS) of consecutive positioningsubframes. The PRS positioning occasions for a cell supported by a basestation may occur periodically at intervals, denoted by a number T_(PRS)of milliseconds or subframes. As an example, FIG. 4 illustrates aperiodicity of positioning occasions where N_(PRS) equals 4 418 andT_(PRS) is greater than or equal to 20 420. In some aspects, T_(PRS) maybe measured in terms of the number of subframes between the start ofconsecutive positioning occasions. Multiple PRS occasions may beassociated with the same PRS resource configuration, in which case, eachsuch occasion is referred to as an “occasion of the PRS resource” or thelike.

A PRS may be transmitted with a constant power. A PRS can also betransmitted with zero power (i.e., muted). Muting, which turns off aregularly scheduled PRS transmission, may be useful when PRS signalsbetween different cells overlap by occurring at the same or almost thesame time. In this case, the PRS signals from some cells may be mutedwhile PRS signals from other cells are transmitted (e.g., at a constantpower). Muting may aid signal acquisition and time of arrival (TOA) andreference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, by UEs, of PRSsignals that are not muted (by avoiding interference from PRS signalsthat have been muted). Muting may be viewed as the non-transmission of aPRS for a given positioning occasion for a particular cell. Mutingpatterns (also referred to as muting sequences) may be signaled (e.g.,using the LTE positioning protocol (LPP)) to a UE using bit strings. Forexample, in a bit string signaled to indicate a muting pattern, if a bitat position j is set to ‘0’, then the UE may infer that the PRS is mutedfor a j^(th) positioning occasion.

To further improve hearability of PRS, positioning subframes may below-interference subframes that are transmitted without user datachannels. As a result, in ideally synchronized networks, PRS may beinterfered with by other cells' PRS with the same PRS pattern index(i.e., with the same frequency shift), but not from data transmissions.The frequency shift may be defined as a function of a PRS ID for a cellor other transmission point (TP) (denoted as N_(ID) ^(PRS)) or as afunction of a physical cell identifier (PCI) (denoted as N_(ID) ^(cell))if no PRS ID is assigned, which results in an effective frequency re-usefactor of six (6).

To also improve hearability of a PRS (e.g., when PRS bandwidth islimited, such as with only six resource blocks corresponding to 1.4 MHzbandwidth), the frequency band for consecutive PRS positioning occasions(or consecutive PRS subframes) may be changed in a known and predictablemanner via frequency hopping. In addition, a cell supported by a basestation may support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRSconfiguration may comprise a distinct frequency offset (vshift), adistinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct codesequence, and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with aparticular number of subframes (N_(PRS)) per positioning occasion and aparticular periodicity (T_(PRS)). In some implementation, one or more ofthe PRS configurations supported in a cell may be for a directional PRSand may then have additional distinct characteristics, such as adistinct direction of transmission, a distinct range of horizontalangles, and/or a distinct range of vertical angles.

A PRS configuration, as described above, including the PRStransmission/muting schedule, is signaled to the UE to enable the UE toperform PRS positioning measurements. The UE is not expected to blindlyperform detection of PRS configurations.

Note that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” maysometimes refer to specific reference signals that are used forpositioning in LTE systems. However, as used herein, unless otherwiseindicated, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” refer toany type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such asbut not limited to, PRS signals in LTE, navigation reference signals(NRS), transmitter reference signals (TRS), cell-specific referencesignals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS),primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals(SSS), etc.

Similar to DL PRS transmitted by base stations, discussed above, a UE104 may transmit UL PRS for positioning. The UL PRS may be sometimesreferred to as sounding reference signals (SRS) for positioning. Usingreceived DL PRS from base stations and/or UL PRS transmitted to basestations, the UE may perform various positioning methods, such as timeof arrival (TOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), timedifference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal received power (RSRP),time difference between reception and transmission of signals (Rx-Tx),Angle of Arrival (AoA) or Angle of Departure (AoD), etc. In someimplementations, the DL PRS and UL PRS are received and transmittedjointly to perform Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning measurements withone or multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system 500implementing positioning using a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA)technique. In the example of FIG. 5, a UE 104 is attempting to calculatean estimate of its position, or assist another entity (e.g., a basestation or core network component, another UE, a location server, athird party application, etc.) to calculate an estimate of its position.The UE 104 may communicate wirelessly with a plurality of base stations102-1, 102-2, and 102-3 (collectively, base stations 102), which maycorrespond to any combination of base stations 102 in FIG. 1, using RFsignals and standardized protocols for the modulation of the RF signalsand the exchange of information packets. By extracting different typesof information from the exchanged RF signals, and utilizing the layoutof the wireless communications system 500 (i.e., the base stations'locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 104 may determine its position, orassist in the determination of its position, in a predefined referencecoordinate system. In an aspect, the UE 104 may specify its positionusing a two-dimensional coordinate system; however, the aspectsdisclosed herein are not so limited, and may also be applicable todetermining positions using a three-dimensional coordinate system, ifthe extra dimension is desired. Additionally, while FIG. 5 illustratesone UE 104 and three base stations 102, as will be appreciated, theremay be more UEs 104 and more or fewer base stations 102.

To support position estimates, the base stations 102 may be configuredto broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, CSI-RS,synchronization signals, etc.) to UEs 104 in their coverage area toenable a UE 104 to measure characteristics of such reference RF signals.For example, the UE 104 may use the OTDOA positioning method, and the UE104 may measure the RSTD between specific reference RF signals (e.g.,PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by different pairs of network nodes(e.g., base stations 102, antennas of base stations 102, etc.).

Generally, RSTDs are measured between a reference network node (e.g.,base station 102-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and one or more neighbornetwork nodes (e.g., base stations 102-2 and 102-3 in the example ofFIG. 5). The reference network node remains the same for all RSTDsmeasured by the UE 104 for any single positioning use of OTDOA and wouldtypically correspond to the serving cell for the UE 104 or anothernearby cell with good signal strength at the UE 104. In an aspect, wherea measured network node is a cell supported by a base station, theneighbor network nodes would normally be cells supported by basestations different from the base station for the reference cell and mayhave good or poor signal strength at the UE 104. The locationcomputation can be based on the measured time differences (e.g., RSTDs)and knowledge of the network nodes' locations and relative transmissiontiming (e.g., regarding whether network nodes are accuratelysynchronized or whether each network node transmits with some known timedifference relative to other network nodes).

To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., LMF 196) mayprovide OTDOA assistance data to the UE 104 for the reference networknode (e.g., base station 102-1 in the example of FIG. 5) and theneighbor network nodes (e.g., base stations 102-2 and 102-3 in theexample of FIG. 5) relative to the reference network node. For example,the assistance data may provide the center channel frequency of eachnetwork node, various reference RF signal configuration parameters(e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity ofpositioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence,reference RF signal ID, reference RF signal bandwidth), a network nodeglobal ID, and/or other cell related parameters applicable to OTDOA, asdescribed above. The OTDOA assistance data may also indicate the servingcell for the UE 104 as the reference network node.

In an aspect, while the location server (e.g., LMF 196) may send theassistance data to the UE 104, alternatively, the assistance data canoriginate directly from the network nodes (e.g., base stations 102)themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.).Alternatively, the UE 104 can detect neighbor network nodes itselfwithout the use of assistance data.

In the example of FIG. 5, the measured time differences between thereference cell of base station 102-1 and the neighboring cells of basestations 102-2 and 102-3 are represented as τ₂-τ₁ and τ₃-τ₁, where τ₁,τ₂, and τ₃ represent the transmission time of a reference RF signal fromthe transmitting antenna(s) of base station 102-1, 102-2, and 102-3,respectively, to the UE 104, and includes any measurement noise at theUE 104. The UE 104 may then convert the ToA measurements for differentnetwork nodes to RSTD measurements (e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 36.214entitled “Physical layer; Measurements”) and (optionally) send them tothe location server (e.g., LMF 196). Using (i) the RSTD measurements,(ii) the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each networknode, (iii) the known position(s) of physical transmitting antennas forthe reference and neighboring network nodes, and/or (iv) directionalreference RF signal characteristics such as a direction of transmission,the UE's 104 position may be determined (either by the UE 104 or thelocation server (e.g., LMF 196)).

The ToA T_(i) at the UE 104 for the shortest path from base station i isT_(i)=τ_(i)+D_(i)/c, where D_(i) is the Euclidean distance between thebase stations i with location (q_(i)) and the UE 104 with location (p),c is the speed of light in the air (299700 km/s), and q_(i) is knownthrough the cell information database. The Euclidean distance (i.e., theline distance between two points) is given by:

${{c\left( {T_{i} - \tau_{i}} \right)} = {\sqrt{2}R\sqrt{1 - {\sin\;\left( \varphi_{1} \right)\sin\;\left( \varphi_{2} \right)} - {\cos\;\left( \varphi_{1} \right)\cos\;\left( \varphi_{2} \right)\cos\;\left( {\beta_{1} - \beta_{2}} \right)}}}},$

where D is the distance between two points on the surface of the earth,R is the radius of the earth (6371 km), φ₁, φ₂ is the latitude (inradians) of the first point and the latitude (in radians) of the secondpoint, respectively, and β₁, β₂ is the longitude (in radians) of thefirst point and the latitude (in radians) of the second point,respectively.

In order to identify the ToA of a reference RF signal transmitted by agiven network node, the UE 104 first jointly processes all the resourceelements (REs) on the channel on which that network node (e.g., basestation 102) is transmitting the reference RF signal, and performs aninverse Fourier transform to convert the received RF signals to the timedomain. The conversion of the received RF signals to the time domain isreferred to as estimation of the Channel Energy Response (CER). The CERshows the peaks on the channel over time, and the earliest “significant”peak should therefore correspond to the ToA of the reference RF signal.Generally, a UE will use a noise-related quality threshold to filter outspurious local peaks, thereby presumably correctly identifyingsignificant peaks on the channel. For example, a UE 104 may choose a ToAestimate that is the earliest local maximum of the CER that is at leastX dB higher than the median of the CER and a maximum Y dB lower than themain peak on the channel. The UE 104 determines the CER for eachreference RF signal from each network node in order to determine the ToAof each reference RF signal from the different network nodes.

When the UE 104 obtains a location estimate itself using OTDOA measuredtime differences, the necessary additional data (e.g., network nodes'locations and relative transmission timing) may be provided to the UE104 by a location server (e.g., LMF 196). In some implementations, alocation estimate for the UE 104 may be obtained (e.g., by the UE 104itself or by the location server (e.g., LMF 196)) from OTDOA measuredtime differences and from other measurements made by the UE 104 (e.g.,measurements of signal timing from GPS or other GNSS satellites). Inthese implementations, known as hybrid positioning, the OTDOAmeasurements may contribute towards obtaining the UE's 104 locationestimate but may not wholly determine the location estimate.

Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA) is a similar positioningmethod to OTDOA, but is based on uplink reference RF signals, e.g., ULPRS or SRS transmitted by the UE (e.g., UE 104). Further, transmissionand/or reception beamforming at the network node and/or UE 104 canenable wideband bandwidth at the cell edge for increased precision. Beamrefinements may also leverage channel reciprocity procedures in 5G NR.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system 600implementing positioning using a Round Trip Time (RTT) with multiplebase stations 102 (multi-RTT) technique. For example, both the UE 104and the base stations 102 may transmit PRS, from which Rx-Tx may bemeasured. The base stations 102, for example, for example, may providethe UE 104 with the time of transmission of their DL PRS signals and thetime of arrival of the UL PRS from the UE 104, from which the UE 104 maydetermine the Rx-Tx and the RTT for each base station 102.

In order to determine the position of the UE 104, some informationregarding the network geometry must be known. [are we sure that thenetwork geometry must be known?—it seems that locations of the basestations are needed but network geometry may include additionalinformation, e.g. GDOP, that may not be needed to determine the positionof the UE] The network geometry, for example, may include the geographiclocation of each of the base station 102 in a reference coordinatesystem. For a UE based positioning procedure, the network geometry maybe provided to the UE 104 in any manner, such as, for example, providingthe information in beacon signals, providing the information using aserver, e.g., in positioning assistance data, providing the informationusing uniform resource identifiers, etc.

As illustrated, the distances D1, D2, and D3 between UE 104 andrespective base stations 102-1, 102-2, 102-3 is determined, using RTT.With the distance to each base station 102 known and the position ofeach base station known, the position of the UE 104 may be solved usinga variety of known geometric techniques, such as, for example,trilateration. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that circles 602, 604, and606 centered on respective base stations 102-1, 102-2, 102-3 have radiiequal to the distances D1, D2, and D3. The position of the UE 104ideally lies at the common intersection of all of the circles 602, 604,and 606.

Other known positioning techniques may be performed to determine thelocation of the UE 104 using DL and/or UL wireless signals, such asAngle of Arrival (AoA) or Angle of Departure (AoD), etc.

As discussed above, a wireless system 100 may be used in variousapplications for accurate positioning. For example, a UE 104 may be, ormay be attached to or embedded inside, a tool, object, part, orcomponent being used in a smart (automated) factory or may be attachedto or embedded inside a package, object, or component in a smart(automated) warehouse or supply depot. For example, a UE 104 may be usedin a motion control system, e.g., as discussed in 3GPP Technical Report(TR) 22.804. A motion control system is used for control of movingand/or rotating parts of machines in a well-defined manner.

FIG. 7, by way of example, illustrates a motion control system 700 thatmay include a UE 104 as a position sensor. As illustrated, a motioncontroller 702 may periodically send desired set points to one orseveral actuators 704, which may be, e.g., linear actuators or servodrives. The actuators 704 perform a corresponding action on one orseveral processes 706, e.g., such as a movement or rotation of one ormore components. At the same time, sensors 708 determine the currentstate of the process(es) 706, e.g., for example the current positionand/or rotation of the one or more components. Some or all of thesensors 708 may include a UE 104 and base station 102. Using wirelesssignals, such as DL PRS and/or UL PRS, the UE 104 and/or base station102 may perform positioning measurements. The UE 104 and/or base station102 may provide to a location server 710 a location report withinformation related to the positioning measurements, such as thepositioning measurements (e.g., in a UE assisted positioning process) ora position estimate (e.g., in a UE based positioning process). Thelocation server 710 may determine the position estimate for the UE 104based on the received location report. The location server 710 sends theactual values, e.g., positions of the UEs 104, back to the motioncontroller 702. Thus, the sensors 708 (including UE 104 and gNB 102) andthe location server 710 operate together as illustrated by box 712 tomeasure and provide the actual values of the sensor positions to themotion control 702.

The motion control is done in a strictly cyclic and deterministicmanner, such that during one communication cycle time T_(cycle) themotion controller 702 sends updated set points to all 704 actuators, andall sensors 708 send their actual values back to the motion controller702, via location server 710 when the sensor 708 includes a UE 104and/or gNB 102. For example, within each communication cycle of durationT_(cycle), the following steps are performed in a strictly cyclicmanner. The motion controller 702 may send set points to all actuators704. The actuators 704 may take these set points and place them into aninternal buffer. All sensors, including the UE 104, transmit theircurrent actual values from their internal buffer to the motioncontroller 702, via location server 710. Moreover, at a well-definedtime point within the current cycle, which is commonly referred to asthe “global sampling point”, the actuators 704 retrieve the latest setpoints received from the motion controller 702 from their internalbuffer and act accordingly on the process(es) 706. At the same time, thesensors 708, including the UE 104 and/or gNBs 102, measure the currentstate of the process(es) 706 and provide measurement information to thelocation server 710, which transmits the new actual values to the motioncontroller 702. A very high synchronicity, e.g., in the order of 1 μs,is desired between all involved devices (motion controller 702, sensors708, actuators 704) with respect to the global sampling point.

By way of example, Table 2 provides typical values for the number ofnodes, cycle times and payload sizes for printing machines, machinetools or packaging machines, which are a few application areas formotion control systems.

TABLE 2 # of sensors/ Typical Application actuators message size Cycletime T_(cycle) Service area Printing Machine >100 20 bytes < 2 ms 100 m× 100 m × 30 m Machine Tool ~20 50 bytes < 0.5 ms 15 m × 15 m × 3 mPackaging Machine ~50 40 bytes < 1 ms 10 m × 5 m × 3 m

For integration of a wireless network in a TSN framework, the timebetween the two systems is synchronized. The TSN framework has beenfully redefined and extended to a wireless network, such as 5G.

FIG. 8 illustrates the 5G and TSN clock distribution model 800 via a 5Gsystem (5GS) 801, as described in 3GPP TR 23.501. For supporting TSNtime synchronization, the 5GS is integrated with the external network asa TSN bridge as described in 3GPP TR 23.501. The 5GS may be modelled asan IEEE 802.1AS compliant entity. For TSN Synchronization, the entireE2E 5G system may be considered as an IEEE 802.1AS “time-aware system”.Only the TSN Translators (TTs) at the edges of the 5G system 801 need tosupport the IEEE 802.1AS operations. The UE 104, gNB 102, UPF 195, NW-TT802 and DS-TTs 804 are synchronized with the 5G grandmaster clock (GM)806 (i.e. the 5G internal system clock) which keeps these networkelements synchronized. The TTs 802 and 804 located at the edge of 5Gsystem 801 may fulfill all functions related to IEEE 802.1AS, e.g.(g)PTP support, timestamping, Best Master Clock Algorithm (BMCA),rateRatio.

The 5G and TSN clock distribution model 800 depicts the twosynchronizations systems considered: the 5GS 801 synchronization and theTSN domain 820 synchronization, as well as the Master (M) and Slave (S)ports considered when the TSN grandmaster (GM) clock 822 is located atthe TSN working domain 821. The 5GS 801 synchronization may be used forNG RAN synchronization, e.g., as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331. The TSNdomain 820 synchronization provides synchronization service to a TSNnetwork, and may follow IEEE 802.1AS. The two synchronization processesmay be considered independent from each other and the gNB 102 (and insome implementations, the location server 803 (which may be the LMF 196)may only need to be synchronized to the 5G GM clock 806. To enable TSNsynchronization, the 5GS 801 may calculate and add the measuredresidence time between the TTs 802 and 804 into the Correction Field(CF) of the synchronization packets of the TSN working domain.

Thus, time synchronization between a TSN domain and a wireless network,e.g., 5GC domain, are possible. Currently, however, wireless positioningcannot support the synchronicity required within a TSN working domain.For example, current wireless positioning permits periodic reporting,e.g., as described in 3GPP TS 37.355. Table 3 shows a portion of thefield descriptions from 3GPP TS 37.355.

TABLE 3 CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation field descriptionsperiodicalReporting This IE indicates that periodic reporting isrequested and comprises the following subfields: reportingAmount . . .reportingInterval indicates the interval between location informationreports and the response time requirement for the first locationinformation report. Enumerated values ri0-25, ri0-5, ri1, ri2, ri4, ri8,ri16, ri32, ri64 correspond to reporting intervals of 1, 2, 4, 8, 10,16, 20, 32, and 64 seconds, respectively . . . additionalInformationThis IE indicates whether a target device is allowed to returnadditional information to that requested . . . qos This IE indicates thequality of service and comprises a number of sub-fields. In the case ofmeasurements, some of the sub-fields apply to the location estimate thatcould be obtained by the server from the measurements provided by thetarget device assuming that the measurements are the only sources oferror. Fields are as follows: horizontalAccuracy . . .verticalCoordinateRequest . . . verticalAccuracy . . . responseTime timeindicates the maximum response time as measured between receipt of theRequestLocationInformation and transmission of aProvideLocationInformation. If the unit field is absent, this is givenas an integer number of seconds between 1 and 128. If the unit field ispresent, the maximum response time is given in units of 10-seconds,between 10 and 1280 seconds. If the periodicalReporting IE is includedin CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation, this field should not beincluded by the location server and shall be ignored by the targetdevice (if included). responseTimeEarlyFix indicates the maximumresponse time as measured between receipt of theRequestLocationInformation and transmission of aProvideLocationInformation containing early location measurements or anearly location estimate... A server should set the responseTimeEarlyFixIE to a value less than that for the time IE. A target shall ignore theresponseTimeEarlyFix IE if its value is not less than that for the timeIE. . . .

Thus, periodic reporting as currently implemented under 3GPP TS 37.355,does not support a motion control system or other use case, e.g., asdefined by 3GGP TR 22.804, discussed above. For example, the reportingperiod under 3GPP TS 37.355 is too long, e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 16, 20,32, and 64 seconds, whereas a few ms are required for motion controlsystems, such as those discussed above. Moreover, the concept of“period” under 3GPP TS 37.355, allows every node to have a differentresponse time, and accordingly, fails to achieve the synchronicityrequired within the control loop for a motion control system asdiscussed above.

To integrate a wireless positioning system, e.g., UE 104, as a sensorwithin the TSN framework for motion control or other similar use cases,the positioning measurements performed by the UE 104 and/or the basestation 102 may be performed at a well-defined time point within acurrent cycle, e.g., control loop, such as the global sampling point, asdiscussed in reference to FIG. 7 to provide the desired synchronicity.The well-defined time point for example, may be, e.g., a phase withinthe period, which may also be referred to as a burst arrival time.

Similar to Time Sensitive Communication (TSC) Assistance Informationdiscussed in 3GPP TS 23.501 which contains a Burst Arrival Time, theRequest/Provide Location Information LPP message types should contain anoptional additional information with the time point, e.g., the globalsampling point, that allows to track period and phase at which thepositioning fix is expected.

The use of a defined time point for position measurement may be for bothUE-assisted or UE-based positioning processes. Additionally, definedtime points may be used for reporting position estimates. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 7, the location server 710 will ultimately returnthe position estimate to the motion controller 702, and accordingly, itmay be advantageous for the location server 710 to have access to adefine time point, e.g., the global sampling point.

Additionally, the latency, e.g., the time gap between the positioningmeasurement at the defined time point, e.g., the global sampling point,and the location fix reaching the motion controller, may be determined,e.g., based on time stamps provided with the positioning measurementsand/or the position estimate.

Thus, the UE 104, the base stations 102, and the location server 710 mayshare the notion of a well-defined time point during the measurementperiod, e.g., the global sampling point, and may be time synchronizedaccording to the TSN framework.

FIG. 9 illustrates aligned timelines 900 including a controller 702timeline 902, a UE 104 timeline 904, a base station 102 timeline 906, alocation server 196 timeline 908, and the TSN time 910. The controller702, UE 104, base station 102, and in some implementations, the locationserver 196 are synchronized in time based on the TSN framework (e.g.,TSN time). The timelines 900 illustrate a single control cycle and showevents and actions performed by the different entities in relation toeach other and the TSN time 910. The control cycle may be periodic, andthus, the events illustrated in FIG. 9 may repeat for a set number ofcycles or until a termination message is issued.

As illustrated on controller timeline 902, the controller 702 provides amotion command, e.g., to actuators 704 shown in FIG. 7, that is globallysynchronized. In response, the actuators initiate the motion. The UE 104serves as a motion/position sensor, and accordingly, the UE timeline 904shows start motion aligned with the motion command on the controllertimeline 902. After a time, the motion may be complete, as illustratedon the UE timeline 904. In some implementations, the motion may continuethrough the entire control cycle.

At the global sampling point shown in the TSN time 910, the UE 104and/or base station 102 performs positioning measurements, asillustrated by sensor measurements on the UE timeline 904 and basestation timeline 906. For example, in some implementations, only DLpositioning measurements may be performed by the UE 104, or only ULpositioning measurements may be performed by the base station 102, orboth DL and UL positioning measurements may be performed by the UE 104and the base station 102. As illustrated, the positioning measurementsare closely aligned with a defined time point, e.g., the global samplingpoint, e.g., within 1 μs. Subsequently, the UE 104 and/or base station102 send the positioning measurements to the location server 196, asillustrated by the send sensor measurements on the UE timeline 904 andbase station timeline 906 and receive sensor measurements on thelocation server timeline 908. The positioning measurements may include,e.g., time stamps. In some implementations, additional messages may betransmitted between the UE 104 and base station 102, e.g., providingmeasurement information, such as the time of transmission or time ofarrival of PRS signals. Additionally, in some implementations, e.g., aUE based process, the UE 104 may determine a position estimate and thesensor measurements provided by the UE 104 may include the positionestimate. As illustrated on the TSN time 910, the transmission of thepositioning measurements by the UE 104 and/or base station 102 may be at(or before) a defined time point, e.g., the measurement report time.

The location server 196 determines a position estimate for the UE 104based on the received positioning measurements. For example, thelocation server 196 may determine the position estimate using thepositioning measurements received from the UE 104 and/or the basestation 102. Alternatively, the sensor measurements from the UE 104 mayinclude the position estimate and the location server 196 may use the UE104 determined position estimate and/or may confirm the positionestimate. Subsequently, the location server 196 sends locationinformation including the position estimate to the controller 702, asillustrated by the send location information on the location servertimeline 908 and receive location information on the controller timeline902. The location information may include the time stamps for thepositioning measurements. As illustrated on the TSN time 910, thetransmission of the location information by the location server 196 maybe at (or before) a defined time point, e.g., the estimate report time.The controller 702 may determine the next motion command, as illustratedby the next motion command computed on the controller timeline 902, andthe control cycle may repeat.

FIG. 10 is a message flow 1000 with various messages sent betweenentities in a wireless system, including a UE 104, a serving basestation 102 s, neighboring base stations 102 n, a location server 1002,and an external client 1004, which may be, e.g., the motion controller702. The serving base station 102 s and neighboring base stations 102 nare sometimes referred to as base stations 102. The message flow 1000additionally illustrates a TSN timeline showing time points whenparticular actions are to occur. The UE 104 may be configured to performUE assisted positioning or UE based positioning, in which the UE itselfdetermines its location using, for example, assistance data provided toit, and may be configured to perform multi-cell RTT positioning. In themessage flow 1000, it is assumed that the UE 104 and location server1002 communicate using the LPP positioning protocol, although use of NPPor a combination of LPP and NPP or other future protocol, such as NRPPa,is also possible. It should be understood that preliminary or additionalconventional stages not shown in FIG. 10 may be performed, such ascapability requests and responses, requests for assistance data, etc.

At stage 1 the location server 1002 receives a location request messagefrom the external client 1004 requesting one or more location estimatesfor the UE 104 at a time point within a TSN framework for performingpositioning measurements. For example, the time point may be a globalsampling point. The global sampling point may include a period and aphase within the period at which the positioning measurements are to beperformed. For example, the period may be the TSN cycle and the phasemay be a time instance within the period or TSN cycle. The locationrequest may further include time points for location information and/orthe position estimate. The location request may be for periodicpositioning of the UE and may indicate, e.g., a sequence of time pointswithin each period for obtaining positioning measurements as well asreporting location information and position estimates.

At stage 2, the location server 1002 requests configuration informationand the base stations 102 provide configuration information.

At stage 3, location server 1002, via serving base station 102 s, sendsa location request message to the UE 104, e.g., requesting a location ofthe UE. The location request may be for periodic positioning of the UEand may indicate, e.g., a sequence of time points within each period forobtaining positioning measurements and reporting location information.In some implementations, location server 1002 may provide assistancedata to the UE 104. In some implementations, the location requestmessage may include a PRS transmission request message to requesttransmission of UL PRS, or the PRS transmission request message may beseparate from the location request message. The PRS transmission requestmay be for periodic transmission of PRS and may indicate a time pointwithin each period for transmitting the PRS. The location requestmessage includes the time point within the TSN framework for performingpositioning measurements based on received DL PRS and/or to transmit ULPRS. The location request may further include a time point for reportingpositioning measurements.

At stage 4, the location server 1002 may send a location request messageto the base stations 102, e.g., requesting a location of the UE. Thelocation request may be for periodic positioning of the UE and mayindicate, e.g., a sequence of time points within each period forobtaining positioning measurements and reporting location information.In some implementations, the location request message may include a PRStransmission request message to request transmission of DL PRS, or thePRS transmission request message may be separate from the locationrequest message. The PRS transmission request may be for periodictransmission of PRS and may indicate a time point within each period fortransmitting the PRS. The location request message includes the timepoint within the TSN framework for performing positioning measurementsbased on received UL PRS and/or to transmit DL PRS. The location requestmay further include a time point for reporting positioning measurements.

At stage 5, the base stations 102 may transmit DL PRS, e.g., if thelocation request in stage 4 instructed the base stations 102 to transmitDL PRS. The transmission of DL PRS may be aligned with the time pointfor positioning measurements as specified in the location requestmessage of stage 4.

At stage 6, the UE 104 may transmit UL PRS, e.g., if the locationrequest in stage 3 instructed the UE 104 to transmit UL PRS. Thetransmission of UL PRS may be aligned with the time point forpositioning measurements as specified in the location request message ofstage 3.

At stages 7 a, the UE 104 performs positioning measurements usingreceived DL PRS. The positioning measurements are performed at the timepoint for positioning measurements, which may be the global samplingpoint, as specified in the location request in stage 3, as illustratedon the TSN timeline. The UE 104 may perform positioning methods such astime of arrival (TOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), timedifference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal received power (RSRP),time difference between reception and transmission of signals (Rx-Tx),etc.

At stages 7 b and 7 c, the base stations 102 may perform positioningmeasurements using received UL PRS. The positioning measurements areperformed at the time point for positioning measurements, which may bethe global sampling point, as specified in the location request in stage4, as illustrated on the TSN timeline. The base stations 102 may performpositioning methods such as time of arrival (TOA), reference signalreceived power (RSRP), time difference between reception andtransmission of signals (Rx-Tx), etc.

At stage 8, the base stations 102 may send positioning information tothe UE 104, such as the positioning measurements performed at stages 7 band 7 c, the time of transmission of DL PRS and the time of arrival ofthe UL PRS, which may be used by the UE 104 for positioning methods suchas Rx-Tx, RTT, and multi-RTT.

At stage 9, the UE 104 may optionally determine a position estimateusing the positioning measurements performed at stage 7 a and thepositioning information received at stage 8, as well as positions of thebase stations 102, which may be provided in the assistance dataprovided, e.g., at stage 3.

At stage 10, the UE 104 may transmit a location information report tothe location server 1002. The location information report may providethe position measurements and/or position estimate, if determined, fromstage 9 and may include time stamps for the position measurements. Thelocation information report may be provided at or before a time pointspecified for the location information report in the location request instage 3, as illustrated on the TSN timeline.

At stage 11, the base stations 102 may transmit a location informationreport to the location server 1002. The location information report mayprovide the position measurements and may include time stamps for theposition measurements. The location information report may be providedat or before a time point specified for the location information reportin the location request in stage 4, as illustrated on the TSN timeline.

At stage 12, the location server 1002 may determine a position estimatefor the UE 104 based on positioning measurements received in thelocation information reports from stages 10 and 11, or may verify aposition estimate for the UE if received in the location informationreport at stage 10.

At stage 13, the location server 1002 may provide a location report tothe external client 1004 that includes the position estimate for the UE104. The location report may include the time stamps for the positioningmeasurements. The location report may be provided at or before a timepoint specified for the location report in the location request in stage1, as illustrated on the TSN timeline.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart for an exemplary method 1100 for performingpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within a wireless network performedby an entity in the wireless network.

At block 1102, the entity receives a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 3 and 4 of FIG. 10. At block 1104, positioningreference signals (PRS) are received from one or more other entities inthe wireless network, e.g., as discussed at stages 5 and 6 of FIG. 10.At block 1106, positioning measurements are performed using the PRS fromthe one or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for performing thepositioning measurement, e.g., as discussed at stages 7 a, 7 b, and 7 cof FIG. 10. At block 1108, a location information report related to thepositioning measurements is transmitted to a location server, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 10 and 11 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location request message may further includea second time point for providing a location information report, whereinthe location information report is transmitted to the location server ator before the second time point, e.g., as discussed at stages 3, 4, 10and 11 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity in the wireless network may be the UEand the PRS are downlink PRS, e.g., as discussed at stages 5 and 7 a ofFIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity in the wireless network may be a basestation and the PRS are uplink PRS, e.g., as discussed at stages 6 and 7b and 7 c of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the wireless network and the TSN framework may besynchronized in time, e.g., as discussed in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In one implementation, the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for performing the positioningmeasurement may be a global sampling point, e.g., as discussed at stages1, 7 a, 7 b, and 7 c of FIG. 10. The global sampling point may be aperiod and a phase. For example, the period may be a TSN cycle and thephase may be a time instant within the period, e.g., as discussed atstages 1, 7 a, 7 b, and 7 c of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity may be the UE and the one or moreother entities may be one or more base stations, and the UE maydetermine a position estimate for the UE based on the positioningmeasurements, and the location information report related to thepositioning measurements may include the position estimate for the UE,e.g., as discussed at stages 9 and 10 of FIG. 10. The UE may furtherreceive positioning measurements from the one or more other entities,wherein the position estimate for the UE is determined further based onthe positioning measurements received from the one or more otherentities, e.g., as discussed at stages 8 and 9 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location information report related to thepositioning measurements may be the positioning measurements, e.g., asdiscussed at stage 10 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity may further receive a request totransmit PRS that includes the first time point within the TSN frameworkfor transmitting the PRS, and may transmit PRS to one or more otherentities at the first time point within the TSN framework specified inthe location request message for transmitting UL PRS, e.g., as discussedat stages 3 and 5 or stages 4 and 6 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location information report related to thepositioning measurements may include a time stamp for the positioningmeasurements, e.g., as discussed at stages 10 and 11 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the UE is a sensor in a motion control systemusing the TSN framework, e.g., as discussed in FIGS. 7 and 10.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart for an exemplary method 1200 for performingpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within a wireless network performedby an entity in the wireless network.

At block 1202, the entity receives a positioning reference signals (PRS)transmission request message that includes a first time point within atime sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 3 and 4 of FIG. 10. At block 1204, the PRS istransmitted at the first time point within the TSN framework specifiedin the location request message for transmitting the PRS, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 5 and 6 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity in the wireless network may be the UEand the PRS are uplink PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 6 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the entity in the wireless network may be a basestation and the PRS are downlink PRS, e.g., as discussed at stage 6 ofFIG. 10.

In one implementation, the wireless network and the TSN framework aresynchronized in time, e.g., as discussed in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In one implementation, the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for transmitting the PRScomprises a global sampling point, e.g., as discussed at stages 1, 7 a,7 b, and 7 c of FIG. 10. The global sampling point may be a period and aphase. For example, the period may be a TSN cycle and the phase may be atime instant within the period, e.g., as discussed at stages 1, 7 a, 7b, and 7 c of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the UE may be a sensor in a motion controlsystem, e.g., as discussed in FIGS. 7 and 10.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart for an exemplary method 1300 performingpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within a wireless network performedby a location server in the wireless network.

At block 1302, the location server receives 418 a first location requestmessage from a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a firsttime point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework, e.g., asdiscussed at stage 1 of FIG. 10. At block 1304, a second locationrequest message is transmitted to one or more entities in the wirelessnetwork requesting positioning measurements for the UE at the first timepoint received in the first location request message, e.g., as discussedat stages 3 and 4 of FIG. 10. At block 1306, a location informationreport is received from the one or more entities based on positioningmeasurements for the UE performed at the first time point, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 10 and 11 of FIG. 10. At block 1308, a positionestimate for the UE is determined based on the positioning report, e.g.,as discussed at stage 12 of FIG. 10. At block 1310, the positionestimate for the UE is transmitted to the first entity, e.g., asdiscussed at stage 13 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the first location request message may furtherinclude a second time point for providing the position estimate, whereinthe position estimate is transmitted to the first entity at or beforethe second time point, e.g., as discussed at stage 1 and 13 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the wireless network and the TSN framework aresynchronized in time, e.g., as discussed in FIGS. 9 and 10.

In one implementation, the first time point within the TSN framework maybe a global sampling point, e.g., as discussed at stages 1, 7 a, 7 b,and 7 c of FIG. 10. The global sampling point may be a period and aphase. For example, the period may be a TSN cycle and the phase may be atime instant within the period, e.g., as discussed at stages 1, 7 a, 7b, and 7 c of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location information report based onpositioning measurements for the UE may include one of positioningmeasurements performed by the UE based on downlink (DL) positioningreference signals (PRS) received by the UE, positioning measurementsperformed by a base station based on uplink (UL) PRS transmitted by theUE, or a combination thereof, and determining the position estimate forthe UE may include generating the position estimate using thepositioning measurements for the UE received in the positioning report,e.g., as discussed at stages 10, 11, and 12 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location information report based onpositioning measurements for the UE may be the position estimate for theUE that is determined by the UE, e.g., as discussed at stages 9 and 10of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the location information report based on thepositioning measurements for the UE may include a time stamp for thepositioning measurements, and wherein the position estimate for the UEincludes the time stamp for the positioning measurements, e.g., asdiscussed at stages 10, 11, and 13 of FIG. 10.

In one implementation, the UE and location server are a sensor and thefirst entity is a motion controller in a motion control system using theTSN framework, e.g., as discussed in FIG. 10.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a UE 1400, e.g., which may be UE 104 shown in FIG. 1, thatis configured to perform positioning within a wireless network, e.g., ina TSN framework, as described herein. The UE 1400, in one example, maybe a sensor in a motion control system using the TSN framework. The UE1400 may, for example, include one or more processors 1402, memory 1404,an external interface such as a at least one wireless transceiver 1410(e.g., wireless network interface), which may be operatively coupledwith one or more connections 1406 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links,etc.) to non-transitory computer readable medium 1420 and memory 1404.The UE 1400 may further include a clock 1416 that may be synchronized intime with the TSN clock. The UE 1400 may further include additionalitems, which are not shown, such as a user interface that may includee.g., a display, a keypad or other input device, such as virtual keypadon the display, through which a user may interface with the UE, or asatellite positioning system receiver. In certain exampleimplementations, all or part of UE 1400 may take the form of a chipset,and/or the like. Wireless transceiver 1410 may, for example, include atransmitter 1412 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one ormore types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 1414 toreceive one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types ofwireless communication networks.

In some embodiments, UE 1400 may include antenna 1411, which may beinternal or external. UE antenna 1411 may be used to transmit and/orreceive signals processed by wireless transceiver 1410. In someembodiments, UE antenna 1411 may be coupled to wireless transceiver1410. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received(transmitted) by UE 1400 may be performed at the point of connection ofthe UE antenna 1411 and wireless transceiver 1410. For example, themeasurement point of reference for received (transmitted) RF signalmeasurements may be an input (output) terminal of the receiver 1414(transmitter 1412) and an output (input) terminal of the UE antenna1411. In a UE 1400 with multiple UE antennas 1411 or antenna arrays, theantenna connector may be viewed as a virtual point representing theaggregate output (input) of multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments,UE 1400 may measure received signals including signal strength and TOAmeasurements and the raw measurements may be processed by the one ormore processors 1402.

The one or more processors 1402 may be implemented using a combinationof hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or moreprocessors 1402 may be configured to perform the functions discussedherein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1408 ona non-transitory computer readable medium, such as medium 1420 and/ormemory 1404. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1402 mayrepresent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least aportion of a data signal computing procedure or process related to theoperation of UE 1400.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may store instructions or programcode 1408 that contain executable code or software instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processors 1402 cause the one or moreprocessors 1402 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed toperform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in UE 1400, themedium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include one or more components ormodules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1402 toperform the methodologies described herein. While the components ormodules are illustrated as software in medium 1420 that is executable bythe one or more processors 1402, it should be understood that thecomponents or modules may be stored in memory 1404 or may be dedicatedhardware either in the one or more processors 1402 or off theprocessors.

A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium1420 and/or memory 1404 and be utilized by the one or more processors1402 in order to manage both communications and the functionalitydescribed herein. It should be appreciated that the organization of thecontents of the medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 as shown in UE 1400 ismerely exemplary, and as such the functionality of the modules and/ordata structures may be combined, separated, and/or be structured indifferent ways depending upon the implementation of the UE 1400.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a location request module1422 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configuresthe one or more processors 1402 to receive from a location server, e.g.,via wireless transceiver 1410, a location request message that includesa first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) frameworkfor performing positioning measurements for the UE. The location requestmessage may additionally or alternatively request transmission of UL PRSat the first time point within the TSN framework. The location requestmessage may include additional time points, for example, for providing alocation report to a location server. The time point may be a globalsampling point. The global sampling point may include a period and aphase within the period at which the positioning measurements are to beperformed. For example, the period may be the TSN cycle and the phasemay be a time instance within the period or TSN cycle.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a time point module 1424that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configures theone or more processors 1402 to monitor clock 1416 to perform specificactions, such as positioning measurements and location reporting, atrequested time points in the TSN framework.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a DL PRS receive module1426 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configuresthe one or more processors 1402 to receive, via the wireless transceiver1410, DL PRS transmitted by one or more base stations.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a UL PRS transmit module1428 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configuresthe one or more processors 1402 to transmit, via the wirelesstransceiver 1410, multiple UL PRS, e.g., SRS for positioning. The one ormore processors 1402 may be configured to transmit the UL PRS at therequested time point within the TSN framework.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a positioning measurementmodule 1430 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402configures the one or more processors 1402 to perform positioningmeasurements using received DL PRS and/or UL PRS at the requested timepoint within the TSN framework. For example, the positioningmeasurements may be, e.g., TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, RSRP, RTT,multi-RTT, AoA, or AoD.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a location informationmodule 1432 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402configures the one or more processors 1402 to receive, via the wirelesstransceiver 1410, location information from one or more base stations.The location information, for example, may include positioningmeasurements including the time of transmission of transmitted DL PRSand the time of arrival of received UL PRS.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a position estimatemodule 1434 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402configures the one or more processors 1402 to estimate a position of theUE 1400 in a UE based positioning process using the positionmeasurements performed by the UE 1400 and location information providedby base stations, along with the locations of the base stations, e.g.,received in assistance data, which may be received with the locationrequest message or in a separate assistance data provide message.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a time stamp module 1436that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configures theone or more processors 1402 to associate a positioning measurement withthe time that the positioning measurement was performed using a timestamp.

The medium 1420 and/or memory 1404 may include a reporting module 1438that when implemented by the one or more processors 1402 configures theone or more processors 1402 to transmit to a location server, via thewireless transceiver 1410, a location report related to the positioningmeasurements, which may be the positioning measurements and/or positionestimate, and a time stamp.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various meansdepending upon the application. For example, these methodologies may beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1402 may beimplemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a non-transitory computer readable medium 1420 or memory 1404that is connected to and executed by the one or more processors 1402.Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or externalto the one or more processors. As used herein the term “memory” refersto any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or othermemory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory ornumber of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be storedas one or more instructions or program code 1408 on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, such as medium 1420 and/or memory 1404.Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structureand computer readable media encoded with a computer program 1408. Forexample, the non-transitory computer readable medium including programcode 1408 stored thereon may include program code 1408 to supportpositioning of a UE in a TSN framework in a manner consistent withdisclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer readable medium 1420includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such non-transitory computer readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to store desired program code 1408 in the formof instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer; disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD),laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk andblu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, whilediscs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

In addition to storage on computer readable medium 1420, instructionsand/or data may be provided as signals on transmission media included ina communication apparatus. For example, a communication apparatus mayinclude a wireless transceiver 1410 having signals indicative ofinstructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to causeone or more processors to implement the functions outlined in theclaims. That is, the communication apparatus includes transmission mediawith signals indicative of information to perform disclosed functions.

Memory 1404 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1404 mayinclude, for example, a primary memory and/or a secondary memory.Primary memory may include, for example, a random access memory, readonly memory, etc. While illustrated in this example as being separatefrom one or more processors 1402, it should be understood that all orpart of a primary memory may be provided within or otherwiseco-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1402. Secondarymemory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory asprimary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems, suchas, for example, a disk drive, an optical disc drive, a tape drive, asolid state memory drive, etc.

In certain implementations, secondary memory may be operativelyreceptive of, or otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitorycomputer readable medium 1420. As such, in certain exampleimplementations, the methods and/or apparatuses presented herein maytake the form in whole or part of a computer readable medium 1420 thatmay include computer implementable code 1408 stored thereon, which ifexecuted by one or more processors 1402 may be operatively enabled toperform all or portions of the example operations as described herein.Computer readable medium 1420 may be a part of memory 1404.

An entity in a wireless network, such as UE 1400, may be configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless networkand may include a means for receiving a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE, which maybe, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the locationrequest module 1422. A means for receiving positioning reference signals(PRS) from one or more other entities in the wireless network may be,e.g., the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402 withdedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the DL PRSreceive module 1426. A means for performing positioning measurementsusing the PRS from the one or more other entities at the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the location request messagefor performing the positioning measurements may be, e.g., the one ormore processors 1402 with dedicated hardware or implementing executablecode or software instructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such asthe time point module 1424 and the positioning measurement module 1430.A means for transmitting to a location server a location informationreport related to the positioning measurements may be, e.g., thewireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402 with dedicatedhardware or implementing executable code or software instructions inmemory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the report module 1428.

In some implementations, the entity may further include a means fordetermining a position estimate for the UE based on the positioningmeasurements, which may be, e.g., the one or more processors 1402 withdedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the positionestimate 1434, wherein the location information report related to thepositioning measurements comprises the position estimate for the UE. Inone example, the entity may further include a means for receivingpositioning measurements from the one or more other entities, which maybe, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the locationinformation module 1432, wherein the position estimate for the UE isfurther determined based on the positioning measurements received fromthe one or more other entities.

In some implementations, the entity may further include a means forreceiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS, which may be, e.g.,the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402 withdedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the locationrequest module 1422. A means for transmitting PRS to the one or moreother entities at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for transmitting UL PRS maybe, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the UL PRStransmit module 1428.

An entity in a wireless network, such as UE 1400, may be configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless networkand may include a means for receiving a positioning reference signals(PRS) transmission request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS,which may be, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1410 and one or moreprocessors 1402 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable codeor software instructions in memory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as thelocation request module 1422. A means for transmitting the PRS at thefirst time point within the TSN framework specified in the PRStransmission request message for transmitting the PRS may be, e.g., thewireless transceiver 1410 and one or more processors 1402 with dedicatedhardware or implementing executable code or software instructions inmemory 1404 and/or medium 1420 such as the UL PRS transmit module 1428.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a base station 1500, e.g., which may be base station 102shown in FIG. 1, that is configured to perform positioning for a UEwithin a wireless network, e.g., in a TSN framework, as describedherein. The UE, in one example, may be a sensor in a motion controlsystem using the TSN framework. The base station 1500 may, for example,include one or more processors 1502, memory 1504, an external interfacesuch as a at least one wireless transceiver 1510 (e.g., wireless networkinterface) and communications interface 1518 (e.g., wireline or wirelessnetwork interface to other base stations and/or the core network and alocation server), which may be operatively coupled with one or moreconnections 1506 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) tonon-transitory computer readable medium 1520 and memory 1504. The basestation 1500 may further include a clock 1516 that may be synchronizedin time with the TSN clock. In certain example implementations, all orpart of base station 1500 may take the form of a chipset, and/or thelike. Wireless transceiver 1510 may, for example, include a transmitter1512 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types ofwireless communication networks and a receiver 1514 to receive one ormore signals transmitted over the one or more types of wirelesscommunication networks.

In some embodiments, base station 1500 may include antenna 1511, whichmay be internal or external. Antenna 1511 may be used to transmit and/orreceive signals processed by wireless transceiver 1510. In someembodiments, antenna 1511 may be coupled to wireless transceiver 1510.In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) bybase station 1500 may be performed at the point of connection of theantenna 1511 and wireless transceiver 1510. For example, the measurementpoint of reference for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements maybe an input (output) terminal of the receiver 1514 (transmitter 1512)and an output (input) terminal of the antenna 1511. In a base station1500 with multiple antennas 1511 or antenna arrays, the antennaconnector may be viewed as a virtual point representing the aggregateoutput (input) of multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, basestation 1500 may measure received signals including signal strength andTOA measurements and the raw measurements may be processed by the one ormore processors 1502.

The one or more processors 1502 may be implemented using a combinationof hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or moreprocessors 1502 may be configured to perform the functions discussedherein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1508 ona non-transitory computer readable medium, such as medium 1520 and/ormemory 1504. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1502 mayrepresent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least aportion of a data signal computing procedure or process related to theoperation of base station 1500.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may store instructions or programcode 1508 that contain executable code or software instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processors 1502 cause the one or moreprocessors 1502 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed toperform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in base station1500, the medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include one or morecomponents or modules that may be implemented by the one or moreprocessors 1502 to perform the methodologies described herein. While thecomponents or modules are illustrated as software in medium 1520 that isexecutable by the one or more processors 1502, it should be understoodthat the components or modules may be stored in memory 1504 or may bededicated hardware either in the one or more processors 1502 or off theprocessors.

A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium1520 and/or memory 1504 and be utilized by the one or more processors1502 in order to manage both communications and the functionalitydescribed herein. It should be appreciated that the organization of thecontents of the medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 as shown in base station1500 is merely exemplary, and as such the functionality of the modulesand/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or be structuredin different ways depending upon the implementation of the base station1500.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a location request module1522 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configuresthe one or more processors 1502 to receive from a location server, e.g.,via the communications interface 1518, a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE. Thelocation request message may additionally or alternatively requesttransmission of DL PRS at the first time point within the TSN framework.The location request message may include additional time points, forexample, for providing a location report to a location server. The timepoint may be a global sampling point. The global sampling point mayinclude a period and a phase within the period at which the positioningmeasurements are to be performed. For example, the period may be the TSNcycle and the phase may be a time instance within the period or TSNcycle.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a time point module 1524that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configures theone or more processors 1502 to monitor clock 1516 to perform specificactions, such as positioning measurements and location reporting, atrequested time points in the TSN framework.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a DL PRS transmit module1526 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configuresthe one or more processors 1502 to transmit DL PRS, via the wirelesstransceiver 1510. The one or more processors 1502 may be configured totransmit the DL PRS at the requested time point within the TSNframework.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a UL PRS receive module1528 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configuresthe one or more processors 1502 to receive, via the wireless transceiver1510, UL PRS, e.g., SRS for positioning, from the UE.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a positioning measurementmodule 1530 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502configures the one or more processors 1502 to perform positioningmeasurements using received UL PRS and/or DL PRS at the requested timepoint within the TSN framework. For example, the positioningmeasurements may be, e.g., TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, RSRP, RTT,multi-RTT, AoA, or AoD.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a location informationmodule 1532 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502configures the one or more processors 1502 to transmit, via the wirelesstransceiver 1510, location information to the UE. The locationinformation, for example, may include positioning measurements includingthe time of transmission of transmitted DL PRS and the time of arrivalof received UL PRS.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a time stamp module 1536that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configures theone or more processors 1502 to associate a positioning measurement withthe time that the positioning measurement was performed using a timestamp.

The medium 1520 and/or memory 1504 may include a reporting module 1538that when implemented by the one or more processors 1502 configures theone or more processors 1502 to transmit to a location server, via thecommunications interface 1518, a location report related to thepositioning measurements, which may be the positioning measurements anda time stamp.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various meansdepending upon the application. For example, these methodologies may beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1502 may beimplemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a non-transitory computer readable medium 1520 or memory 1504that is connected to and executed by the one or more processors 1502.Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or externalto the one or more processors. As used herein the term “memory” refersto any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or othermemory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory ornumber of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be storedas one or more instructions or program code 1508 on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, such as medium 1520 and/or memory 1504.Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structureand computer readable media encoded with a computer program 1508. Forexample, the non-transitory computer readable medium including programcode 1508 stored thereon may include program code 1508 to supportpositioning of a UE in a TSN framework in a manner consistent withdisclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer readable medium 1520includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such non-transitory computer readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to store desired program code 1508 in the formof instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer; disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD),laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk andblu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, whilediscs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

In addition to storage on computer readable medium 1520, instructionsand/or data may be provided as signals on transmission media included ina communication apparatus. For example, a communication apparatus mayinclude a wireless transceiver 1510 having signals indicative ofinstructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to causeone or more processors to implement the functions outlined in theclaims. That is, the communication apparatus includes transmission mediawith signals indicative of information to perform disclosed functions.

Memory 1504 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1504 mayinclude, for example, a primary memory and/or a secondary memory.Primary memory may include, for example, a random access memory, readonly memory, etc. While illustrated in this example as being separatefrom one or more processors 1502, it should be understood that all orpart of a primary memory may be provided within or otherwiseco-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1502. Secondarymemory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory asprimary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems, suchas, for example, a disk drive, an optical disc drive, a tape drive, asolid state memory drive, etc.

In certain implementations, secondary memory may be operativelyreceptive of, or otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitorycomputer readable medium 1520. As such, in certain exampleimplementations, the methods and/or apparatuses presented herein maytake the form in whole or part of a computer readable medium 1520 thatmay include computer implementable code 1508 stored thereon, which ifexecuted by one or more processors 1502 may be operatively enabled toperform all or portions of the example operations as described herein.Computer readable medium 1520 may be a part of memory 1504.

An entity in a wireless network, such as base station 1500, may beconfigured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network and may include a means for receiving a locationrequest message that includes a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework for performing positioning measurements forthe UE, which may be, e.g., the communications interface 1518 and one ormore processors 1502 with dedicated hardware or implementing executablecode or software instructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such asthe location request module 1522. A means for receiving positioningreference signals (PRS) from one or more other entities in the wirelessnetwork may be, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1510 and one or moreprocessors 1502 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable codeor software instructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such as theUL PRS receive module 1528. A means for performing positioningmeasurements using the PRS from the one or more other entities at thefirst time point within the TSN framework specified in the locationrequest message for performing the positioning measurements may be,e.g., the one or more processors 1502 with dedicated hardware orimplementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1504and/or medium 1520 such as the time point module 1524 and thepositioning measurement module 1530. A means for transmitting to alocation server a location information report related to the positioningmeasurements may be, e.g., the communications interface 1518 and one ormore processors 1502 with dedicated hardware or implementing executablecode or software instructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such asthe report module 1538.

In some implementations, the entity may further include a means forreceiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS, which may be, e.g.,the communications interface 1518 and one or more processors 1502 withdedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such as the locationrequest module 1522. A means for transmitting PRS to the one or moreother entities at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for transmitting UL PRS maybe, e.g., the wireless transceiver 1510 and one or more processors 1502with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such as the DL PRStransmit module 1526.

An entity in a wireless network, such as base station 1500, may beconfigured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network and may include a means for receiving a positioningreference signals (PRS) transmission request message that includes afirst time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework fortransmitting PRS, which may be, e.g., the communications interface 1518and one or more processors 1502 with dedicated hardware or implementingexecutable code or software instructions in memory 1504 and/or medium1520 such as the location request module 1522. A means for transmittingthe PRS at the first time point within the TSN framework specified inthe PRS transmission request message for transmitting the PRS may be,e.g., the wireless transceiver 1510 and one or more processors 1502 withdedicated hardware or implementing executable code or softwareinstructions in memory 1504 and/or medium 1520 such as the DL PRStransmit module 1526.

FIG. 16 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplaryfeatures of a location server 1600, e.g., LMF 196 in FIG. 1, that isconfigured to perform positioning for a UE within a wireless network,e.g., in a TSN framework, as described herein. The UE, in one example,may be a sensor in a motion control system using the TSN framework.Location server 1600 may, for example, include one or more processors1602, memory 1604, an external interface, which may include acommunications interface 1618 (e.g., wireline or wireless networkinterface to base stations and/or entities in the core network), whichmay be operatively coupled with one or more connections 1606 (e.g.,buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) to non-transitory computer readablemedium 1620 and memory 1604. The location server 1600 may furtherinclude a clock 1616 that may be synchronized in time with the TSNclock. In certain example implementations, all or part of locationserver 1600 may take the form of a chipset, and/or the like.

The one or more processors 1602 may be implemented using a combinationof hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or moreprocessors 1602 may be configured to perform the functions discussedherein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1608 ona non-transitory computer readable medium, such as medium 1620 and/ormemory 1604. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1602 mayrepresent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least aportion of a data signal computing procedure or process related to theoperation of location server 1600.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may store instructions or programcode 1608 that contain executable code or software instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processors 1602 cause the one or moreprocessors 1602 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed toperform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in locationserver 1600, the medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include one or morecomponents or modules that may be implemented by the one or moreprocessors 1602 to perform the methodologies described herein. While thecomponents or modules are illustrated as software in medium 1620 that isexecutable by the one or more processors 1602, it should be understoodthat the components or modules may be stored in memory 1604 or may bededicated hardware either in the one or more processors 1602 or off theprocessors.

A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium1620 and/or memory 1604 and be utilized by the one or more processors1602 in order to manage both communications and the functionalitydescribed herein. It should be appreciated that the organization of thecontents of the medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 as shown in locationserver 1600 is merely exemplary, and as such the functionality of themodules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or bestructured in different ways depending upon the implementation of thelocation server 1600.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a location requestreceive module 1622 that when implemented by the one or more processors1602 configures the one or more processors 1602 to receive from anotherentity, such as a controller, e.g., via communications interface 1618, alocation request message requesting locations for the UE at a time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework. The location requestmessage may include additional time points, for example, for a locationreport to be provided to the location server and for a position estimateto be returned to the entity. The time point may be a global samplingpoint. The global sampling point may include a period and a phase withinthe period at which the positioning measurements are to be performed.For example, the period may be the TSN cycle and the phase may be a timeinstance within the period or TSN cycle.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a location requesttransmit module 1624 that when implemented by the one or more processors1602 configures the one or more processors 1602 to transmit to the UEand/or base stations, e.g., via communications interface 1618, alocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEperformed at the time point. The transmitted location request messagemay include additional time points, for example, for a location reportto be provided to the location server. The time point may be a globalsampling point. The global sampling point may include a period and aphase within the period at which the positioning measurements are to beperformed. For example, the period may be the TSN cycle and the phasemay be a time instance within the period or TSN cycle.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a time point module 1626that when implemented by the one or more processors 1602 configures theone or more processors 1602 to monitor clock 1616 to perform specificactions, such as reporting a position estimate at requested time pointsin the TSN framework.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a location informationreceive module 1628 that when implemented by the one or more processors1602 configures the one or more processors 1602 to receive, via thecommunications interface 1618, a location report with locationinformation from the UE and/or one or more base stations. The locationinformation, for example, may include positioning measurements performedby the UE and/or one or more base stations at the requested time point,a position estimate determined by the UE, and time stamps associatedwith the time the positioning measurements were performed.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a position estimatemodule 1630 that when implemented by the one or more processors 1602configures the one or more processors 1602 to determine a positionestimate for the UE, e.g., by generating a position estimate for the UEusing the position measurements performed by the UE and/or the basestations along with the locations of the base stations, or using aposition estimate provided by the UE.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a time stamp module 1632that when implemented by the one or more processors 1602 configures theone or more processors 1602 to associate a time stamp for thepositioning measurements with the position estimate.

The medium 1620 and/or memory 1604 may include a report module 1634 thatwhen implemented by the one or more processors 1602 configures the oneor more processors 1602 to transmit the position estimate to therequesting entity, via the communications interface 1618, which mayinclude a time stamp.

The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various meansdepending upon the application. For example, these methodologies may beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.For a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1602 may beimplemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed toperform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. Any machine readable mediumtangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing themethodologies described herein. For example, software codes may bestored in a non-transitory computer readable medium 1620 or memory 1604that is connected to and executed by the one or more processors 1602.Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or externalto the one or more processors. As used herein the term “memory” refersto any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or othermemory and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory ornumber of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be storedas one or more instructions or program code 1608 on a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, such as medium 1620 and/or memory 1604.Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structureand computer readable media encoded with a computer program 1608. Forexample, the non-transitory computer readable medium including programcode 1608 stored thereon may include program code 1608 to supportpositioning of a UE in a TSN framework in a manner consistent withdisclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer readable medium 1620includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example,and not limitation, such non-transitory computer readable media cancomprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to store desired program code 1608 in the formof instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by acomputer; disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD),laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk andblu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, whilediscs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the aboveshould also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

In addition to storage on computer readable medium 1620, instructionsand/or data may be provided as signals on transmission media included ina communication apparatus. For example, a communication apparatus mayinclude a communications interface 1618 having signals indicative ofinstructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to causeone or more processors to implement the functions outlined in theclaims. That is, the communication apparatus includes transmission mediawith signals indicative of information to perform disclosed functions.

Memory 1604 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1604 mayinclude, for example, a primary memory and/or a secondary memory.Primary memory may include, for example, a random access memory, readonly memory, etc. While illustrated in this example as being separatefrom one or more processors 1602, it should be understood that all orpart of a primary memory may be provided within or otherwiseco-located/coupled with the one or more processors 1602. Secondarymemory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory asprimary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems, suchas, for example, a disk drive, an optical disc drive, a tape drive, asolid state memory drive, etc.

In certain implementations, secondary memory may be operativelyreceptive of, or otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitorycomputer readable medium 1620. As such, in certain exampleimplementations, the methods and/or apparatuses presented herein maytake the form in whole or part of a computer readable medium 1620 thatmay include computer implementable code 1608 stored thereon, which ifexecuted by one or more processors 1602 may be operatively enabled toperform all or portions of the example operations as described herein.Computer readable medium 1620 may be a part of memory 1604.

A location server in a wireless network, such as location server 1600,may be configured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) withinthe wireless network and may include a means for receiving a firstlocation request message from a first entity requesting locations forthe UE at a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework, which may be, e.g., the communications interface 1618 and oneor more processors 1602 with dedicated hardware or implementingexecutable code or software instructions in memory 1604 and/or medium1620 such as the location request receive module 1622. A means fortransmitting to one or more entities in the wireless network a secondlocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEto be performed at the first time point received in the first locationrequest message may be, e.g., the communications interface 1618 and oneor more processors 1602 with dedicated hardware or implementingexecutable code or software instructions in memory 1604 and/or medium1620 such as the location request transmit module 1624. A means forreceiving a location information report from the one or more entitiesbased on positioning measurements for the UE performed at the first timepoint may be, e.g., the communications interface 1618 and one or moreprocessors 1602 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable codeor software instructions in memory 1604 and/or medium 1620 such as thelocation information receive module 1628. A means for determining aposition estimate for the UE based on the location information reportmay be, e.g., the one or more processors 1602 with dedicated hardware orimplementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1604and/or medium 1620 such as the position estimate module 1630. A meansfor transmitting the position estimate for the UE to the first entitymay be, e.g., the communications interface 1618 and one or moreprocessors 1602 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable codeor software instructions in memory 1604 and/or medium 1620 such as thereport module 1634.

Reference throughout this specification to “one example”, “an example”,“certain examples”, or “exemplary implementation” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the feature and/or example may be included in at least one featureand/or example of claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of thephrase “in one example”, “an example”, “in certain examples” or “incertain implementations” or other like phrases in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame feature, example, and/or limitation. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or moreexamples and/or features.

Some portions of the detailed description included herein are presentedin terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations onbinary digital signals stored within a memory of a specific apparatus orspecial purpose computing device or platform. In the context of thisparticular specification, the term specific apparatus or the likeincludes a general purpose computer once it is programmed to performparticular operations pursuant to instructions from program software.Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processing orrelated arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. An algorithm is here, and generally, is considered to be aself-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processingleading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processinginvolve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically,although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form ofelectrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsas bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all ofthese or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physicalquantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically statedotherwise, as apparent from the discussion herein, it is appreciatedthat throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as“processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining” or the likerefer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a specialpurpose computer, special purpose computing apparatus or a similarspecial purpose electronic computing device. In the context of thisspecification, therefore, a special purpose computer or a similarspecial purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulatingor transforming signals, typically represented as physical electronic ormagnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other informationstorage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the specialpurpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

In the preceding detailed description, numerous specific details havebeen set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subjectmatter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatclaimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, methods and apparatuses that would be known by oneof ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscureclaimed subject matter.

The terms, “and”, “or”, and “and/or” as used herein may include avariety of meanings that also are expected to depend at least in partupon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if usedto associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C,here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in theexclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein maybe used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in thesingular or may be used to describe a plurality or some othercombination of features, structures or characteristics. Though, itshould be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and claimedsubject matter is not limited to this example.

While there has been illustrated and described what are presentlyconsidered to be example features, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, andequivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subjectmatter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter withoutdeparting from the central concept described herein.

In view of this description, embodiments may include differentcombinations of features. Implementation examples are described in thefollowing numbered clauses:

Clause 1. A method performed by an entity in a wireless network ofpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

receiving a location request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for performingpositioning measurements for the UE;

receiving positioning reference signals (PRS) from one or more otherentities in the wireless network;

performing the positioning measurements using the PRS from the one ormore other entities at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for performing the positioningmeasurements; and

transmitting to a location server a location information report relatedto the positioning measurements.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the location request messagefurther includes a second time point for providing the locationinformation report, wherein the location information report istransmitted to the location server at or before the second time point.

Clause 3. The method of either of clauses 1 or 2, wherein the entity inthe wireless network comprises the UE and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1-3, wherein the entity in thewireless network is a base station and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1-4, wherein the wireless networkand the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein the first time pointwithin the TSN framework specified in the location request message forperforming the positioning measurements comprises a global samplingpoint.

Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the period is a TSN cycle andthe phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1-8, wherein the entity is the UEand the one or more other entities comprise one or more base stations,the method further comprising:

determining a position estimate for the UE based on the positioningmeasurements;

wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises the position estimate for the UE.

Clause 10. The method of clause 9, further comprising receivingpositioning measurements from the one or more other entities, andwherein determining the position estimate for the UE is further based onthe positioning measurements received from the one or more otherentities.

Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1-10, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises thepositioning measurements.

Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1-11, further comprising:

receiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS; and

transmitting PRS to the one or more other entities at the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the location request messagefor transmitting UL PRS.

Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1-12, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises atime stamp for the positioning measurements.

Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1-13, wherein the locationrequest message is for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 1-14, wherein the UE is a sensorin a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 16. An entity in a wireless network configured to performpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with anetwork entity in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the atleast one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive, via the external interface, a location request message thatincludes a first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN)framework for performing positioning measurements for the UE;

receive, via the external interface, positioning reference signals (PRS)from one or more other entities in the wireless network;

perform positioning measurements using the PRS from the one or moreother entities at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for performing the positioningmeasurements; and

transmit, via the external interface, to a location server a locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements.

Clause 17. The entity of clause 16, wherein the location request messagefurther includes a second time point for providing the locationinformation report, wherein the location information report istransmitted to the location server at or before the second time point.

Clause 18. The entity of either of clauses 16 or 17, wherein the entityin the wireless network comprises the UE and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 19. The entity of any of clauses 16-18, wherein the entity in thewireless network is a base station and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 20. The entity of any of clauses 16-19, wherein the wirelessnetwork and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 21. The entity of any of clauses 16-20, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the location request messagefor performing the positioning measurements comprises a global samplingpoint.

Clause 22. The entity of clause 21, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 23. The entity of clause 22, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 24. The entity of any of clauses 16-23, wherein the entity is theUE and the one or more other entities comprise one or more basestations, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a position estimate for the UE based on the positioningmeasurements;

wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises the position estimate for the UE.

Clause 25. The entity of clause 24, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to receive positioning measurements from the oneor more other entities, and wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to determine the position estimate for the UE further basedon the positioning measurements received from the one or more otherentities.

Clause 26. The entity of any of clauses 16-25, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises thepositioning measurements.

Clause 27. The entity of any of clauses 16-26, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to:

receive, via the external interface, a request to transmit PRS thatincludes the first time point within the TSN framework for transmittingthe PRS; and

transmit, via the external interface, PRS to the one or more otherentities at the first time point within the TSN framework specified inthe location request message for transmitting UL PRS.

Clause 28. The entity of any of clauses 16-27, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises atime stamp for the positioning measurements.

Clause 29. The entity of any of clauses 16-28, wherein the locationrequest message is for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 30. The entity of any of clauses 16-29, wherein the UE is asensor in a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 31. An entity in a wireless network configured to performpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

means for receiving a location request message that includes a firsttime point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework forperforming positioning measurements for the UE;

means for receiving positioning reference signals (PRS) from one or moreother entities in the wireless network;

means for performing the positioning measurements using the PRS from theone or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for performing thepositioning measurements; and

means for transmitting to a location server a location informationreport related to the positioning measurements.

Clause 32. The entity of clause 31, wherein the location request messagefurther includes a second time point for providing the locationinformation report, wherein the location information report istransmitted to the location server at or before the second time point.

Clause 33. The entity of either of clauses 31 or 32, wherein the entityin the wireless network comprises the UE and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 34. The entity of any of clauses 31-33, wherein the entity in thewireless network is a base station and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 35. The entity of any of clauses 31-34, wherein the wirelessnetwork and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 36. The entity of any of clauses 31-35, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the location request messagefor performing the positioning measurements comprises a global samplingpoint.

Clause 37. The entity of clause 36, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 38. The entity of clause 37, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 39. The entity of any of clauses 31-38, wherein the entity is theUE and the one or more other entities comprise one or more basestations, the entity further comprising:

means for determining a position estimate for the UE based on thepositioning measurements;

wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises the position estimate for the UE.

Clause 40. The entity of clause 39, further comprising means forreceiving positioning measurements from the one or more other entities,and wherein the means for determining the position estimate for the UEfurther uses the positioning measurements received from the one or moreother entities.

Clause 41. The entity of any of clauses 31-40, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises thepositioning measurements.

Clause 42. The entity of any of clauses 31-41, further comprising:

means for receiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the firsttime point within the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS; and

means for transmitting PRS to the one or more other entities at thefirst time point within the TSN framework specified in the locationrequest message for transmitting UL PRS.

Clause 43. The entity of any of clauses 31-42, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises atime stamp for the positioning measurements.

Clause 44. The entity of any of clauses 31-43, wherein the locationrequest message is for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 45. The entity of any of clauses 31-44, wherein the UE is asensor in a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 46. A non-transitory storage medium including program code storedthereon, the program code is operable to configure at least oneprocessor in an entity in a wireless network to perform positioning of auser equipment (UE) within the wireless network, the program codeincluding instructions to:

receive a location request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for performingpositioning measurements for the UE;

receive positioning reference signals (PRS) from one or more otherentities in the wireless network;

perform the positioning measurements using the PRS from the one or moreother entities at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the location request message for performing the positioningmeasurements; and

transmit to a location server a location information report related tothe positioning measurements.

Clause 47. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 46, wherein thelocation request message further includes a second time point forproviding the location information report, wherein the locationinformation report is transmitted to the location server at or beforethe second time point.

Clause 48. The non-transitory storage medium of either of clauses 46 or47, wherein the entity in the wireless network comprises the UE and thePRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 49. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-48,wherein the entity in the wireless network is a base station and the PRSare uplink PRS.

Clause 50. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-49,wherein the wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized intime.

Clause 51. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-50,wherein the first time point within the TSN framework specified in thelocation request message for performing the positioning measurementscomprises a global sampling point.

Clause 52. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 51, wherein theglobal sampling point comprises a period and a phase.

Clause 53. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 52, wherein theperiod is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 54. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-53,wherein the entity is the UE and the one or more other entities compriseone or more base stations, the program code further includinginstructions to:

determine a position estimate for the UE based on the positioningmeasurements;

wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises the position estimate for the UE.

Clause 55. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 54, the programcode further including instructions to receive positioning measurementsfrom the one or more other entities, and wherein the instructions todetermine the position estimate for the UE further uses the positioningmeasurements received from the one or more other entities.

Clause 56. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-55,wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises the positioning measurements.

Clause 57. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-56,the program code further including instructions to:

receive a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS; and

transmit PRS to the one or more other entities at the first time pointwithin the TSN framework specified in the location request message fortransmitting UL PRS.

Clause 58. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-57,wherein the location information report related to the positioningmeasurements comprises a time stamp for the positioning measurements.

Clause 59. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-58,wherein the location request message is for periodic positioning of theUE.

Clause 60. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 46-59,wherein the UE is a sensor in a motion control system using the TSNframework.

Clause 61. A method performed by an entity in a wireless network ofpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

receiving a positioning reference signals (PRS) transmission requestmessage that includes a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS; and

transmitting the PRS at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the PRS transmission request message for transmitting thePRS.

Clause 62. The method of clause 61, wherein the entity in the wirelessnetwork comprises the UE and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 63. The method of either of clauses 61 or 62, wherein the entityin the wireless network is a base station and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 64. The method of any of clauses 61-63, wherein the wirelessnetwork and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 65. The method of any of clauses 61-64, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the PRS transmission requestmessage for transmitting the PRS comprises a global sampling point.

Clause 66. The method of clause 65, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 67. The method of clause 66, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 68. The method of any of clauses 61-67, wherein the PRStransmission request message is for periodic PRS transmissions.

Clause 69. The method of any of clauses 61-68, wherein the UE is asensor in a motion control system.

Clause 70. An entity in a wireless network configured to performpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with anetwork entity in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the atleast one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive, via the external interface, a positioning reference signals(PRS) transmission request message that includes a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS;and

transmit, via the external interface, the PRS at the first time pointwithin the TSN framework specified in the PRS transmission requestmessage for transmitting the PRS.

Clause 71. The entity of clause 70, wherein the entity in the wirelessnetwork comprises the UE and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 72. The entity of either of clauses 70 or 71, wherein the entityin the wireless network is a base station and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 73. The entity of any of clauses 70-72, wherein the wirelessnetwork and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 74. The entity of any of clauses 70-73, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the PRS transmission requestmessage for transmitting the PRS comprises a global sampling point.

Clause 75. The entity of clause 74, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 76. The entity of clause 75, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 77. The entity of any of clauses 70-76, wherein the PRStransmission request message is for periodic PRS transmissions.

Clause 78. The entity of any of clauses 70-77, wherein the UE is asensor in a motion control system.

Clause 79. An entity in a wireless network configured to performpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

means for receiving a positioning reference signals (PRS) transmissionrequest message that includes a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS; and

means for transmitting the PRS at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the PRS transmission request message fortransmitting the PRS.

Clause 80. The entity of clause 79, wherein the entity in the wirelessnetwork comprises the UE and the PRS are uplink PRS.

Clause 81. The entity of either of clauses 79 or 80, wherein the entityin the wireless network is a base station and the PRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 82. The entity of any of clauses 79-81, wherein the wirelessnetwork and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 83. The entity of any of clauses 79-82, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the PRS transmission requestmessage for transmitting the PRS comprises a global sampling point.

Clause 84. The entity of clause 83, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 85. The entity of clause 84, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 86. The entity of any of clauses 79-85, wherein the PRStransmission request message is for periodic PRS transmissions.

Clause 87. The entity of any of clauses 79-86, wherein the UE is asensor in a motion control system.

Clause 88. A non-transitory storage medium including program code storedthereon, the program code is operable to configure at least oneprocessor in an entity in a wireless network to perform positioning of auser equipment (UE) within the wireless network, the program codeincluding instructions to:

receive a positioning reference signals (PRS) transmission requestmessage that includes a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework for transmitting PRS; and

transmit the PRS at the first time point within the TSN frameworkspecified in the PRS transmission request message for transmitting thePRS.

Clause 89. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 88, wherein theentity in the wireless network comprises the UE and the PRS are uplinkPRS.

Clause 90. The non-transitory storage medium of either of clauses 88 or89, wherein the entity in the wireless network is a base station and thePRS are downlink PRS.

Clause 91. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 88-90,wherein the wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized intime.

Clause 92. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 88-91,wherein the first time point within the TSN framework specified in thePRS transmission request message for transmitting the PRS comprises aglobal sampling point.

Clause 93. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 92, wherein theglobal sampling point comprises a period and a phase.

Clause 94. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 93, wherein theperiod is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 95. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 88-94,wherein the PRS transmission request message is for periodic PRStransmissions.

Clause 96. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 88-95,wherein the UE is a sensor in a motion control system.

Clause 97. A method performed by a location server in a wireless networkof positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network,comprising:

receiving a first location request message from a first entityrequesting locations for the UE at a first time point within a timesensitive networking (TSN) framework;

transmitting to one or more entities in the wireless network a secondlocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEto be performed at the first time point received in the first locationrequest message;

receiving a location information report from the one or more entitiesbased on positioning measurements for the UE performed at the first timepoint;

determining a position estimate for the UE based on the locationinformation report; and

transmitting the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.

Clause 98. The method of clause 97, wherein the first location requestmessage further includes a second time point for providing the positionestimate, wherein the position estimate is transmitted to the firstentity at or before the second time point.

Clause 99. The method of either of clauses 97 or 98, wherein thewireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 100. The method of any of clauses 97-99, wherein the first timepoint within the TSN framework comprises a global sampling point.

Clause 101. The method of clause 100, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.

Clause 102. The method of clause 101, wherein the period is a TSN cycleand the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 103. The method of any of clauses 97-102, wherein the locationinformation report based on the positioning measurements for the UEcomprises one of positioning measurements performed by the UE based ondownlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) received by the UE,positioning measurements performed by a base station based on uplink(UL) PRS transmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; and whereindetermining the position estimate for the UE comprises generating theposition estimate using the positioning measurements for the UE receivedin the location information report.

Clause 104. The method of any of clauses 97-103, wherein the locationinformation report based on the positioning measurements for the UEcomprises the position estimate for the UE that is determined by the UE.

Clause 105. The method of any of clauses 97-104, wherein the locationinformation report based on the positioning measurements for the UEcomprises a time stamp for the positioning measurements, and wherein theposition estimate for the UE includes the time stamp for the positioningmeasurements.

Clause 106. The method of any of clauses 97-105, wherein the firstlocation request message and the second location request message are forperiodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 107. The method of any of clauses 97-106, wherein the UE and thelocation server are a sensor and the first entity is a motion controllerin a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 108. A location server in a wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, comprising:

an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with anetwork entity in the wireless network;

at least one memory;

at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the atleast one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

receive, via the external interface, a first location request messagefrom a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a first timepoint within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework;

transmit, via the external interface, to one or more entities in thewireless network a second location request message requestingpositioning measurements for the UE to be performed at the first timepoint received in the first location request message;

receive, via the external interface, a location information report fromthe one or more entities based on positioning measurements for the UEperformed at the first time point;

determine a position estimate for the UE based on the locationinformation report; and

transmit, via the external interface, the position estimate for the UEto the first entity.

Clause 109. The location server of clause 108, wherein the firstlocation request message further includes a second time point forproviding the position estimate, wherein the position estimate istransmitted to the first entity at or before the second time point.

Clause 110. The location server of either of clauses 108 or 109, whereinthe wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 111. The location server of any of clauses 108-110, wherein thefirst time point within the TSN framework comprises a global samplingpoint.

Clause 112. The location server of clause 111, wherein the globalsampling point comprises a period and a phase.

Clause 113. The location server of clause 112, wherein the period is aTSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 114. The location server of any of clauses 108-113, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises one of positioning measurements performed by the UEbased on downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) received bythe UE, positioning measurements performed by a base station based onuplink (UL) PRS transmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; andwherein the at least one processor is configured to determine theposition estimate for the UE by being configured to generate theposition estimate using the positioning measurements for the UE receivedin the location information report.

Clause 115. The location server of any of clauses 108-114, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises the position estimate for the UE that is determined bythe UE.

Clause 116. The location server of any of clauses 108-115, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises a time stamp for the positioning measurements, andwherein the position estimate for the UE includes the time stamp for thepositioning measurements.

Clause 117. The location server of any of clauses 108-116, wherein thefirst location request message and the second location request messageare for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 118. The location server of any of clauses 108-117, wherein theUE and the location server are a sensor and the first entity is a motioncontroller in a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 119. A location server in a wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, comprising:

means for receiving a first location request message from a first entityrequesting locations for the UE at a first time point within a timesensitive networking (TSN) framework;

means for transmitting to one or more entities in the wireless network asecond location request message requesting positioning measurements forthe UE to be performed at the first time point received in the firstlocation request message;

means for receiving a location information report from the one or moreentities based on positioning measurements for the UE performed at thefirst time point;

means for determining a position estimate for the UE based on thelocation information report; and

means for transmitting the position estimate for the UE to the firstentity.

Clause 120. The location server of clause 119, wherein the firstlocation request message further includes a second time point forproviding the position estimate, wherein the position estimate istransmitted to the first entity at or before the second time point.

Clause 121. The location server of either of clauses 119 or 120, whereinthe wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized in time.

Clause 122. The location server of any of clauses 119-121, wherein thefirst time point within the TSN framework comprises a global samplingpoint.

Clause 123. The location server of clause 122, wherein the globalsampling point comprises a period and a phase.

Clause 124. The location server of clause 123, wherein the period is aTSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 125. The location server of any of clauses 119-124, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises one of positioning measurements performed by the UEbased on downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) received bythe UE, positioning measurements performed by a base station based onuplink (UL) PRS transmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; andwherein the means for determining the position estimate for the UEcomprises means for generating the position estimate using thepositioning measurements for the UE received in the location informationreport.

Clause 126. The location server of any of clauses 119-125, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises the position estimate for the UE that is determined bythe UE.

Clause 127. The location server of any of clauses 119-126, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises a time stamp for the positioning measurements, andwherein the position estimate for the UE includes the time stamp for thepositioning measurements.

Clause 128. The location server of any of clauses 119-127, wherein thefirst location request message and the second location request messageare for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 129. The location server of any of clauses 119-128, wherein theUE and the location server are a sensor and the first entity is a motioncontroller in a motion control system using the TSN framework.

Clause 130. A non-transitory storage medium including program codestored thereon, the program code is operable to configure at least oneprocessor in a location server in a wireless network to performpositioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network, theprogram code including instructions to:

receive a first location request message from a first entity requestinglocations for the UE at a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework;

transmit to one or more entities in the wireless network a secondlocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEto be performed at the first time point received in the first locationrequest message;

receive a location information report from the one or more entitiesbased on positioning measurements for the UE performed at the first timepoint;

determine a position estimate for the UE based on the locationinformation report; and

transmit the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.

Clause 131. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 130, wherein thefirst location request message further includes a second time point forproviding the position estimate, wherein the position estimate istransmitted to the first entity at or before the second time point.

Clause 132. The non-transitory storage medium of either of clauses 130or 131, wherein the wireless network and the TSN framework aresynchronized in time.

Clause 133. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-132,wherein the first time point within the TSN framework comprises a globalsampling point.

Clause 134. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 133, wherein theglobal sampling point comprises a period and a phase.

Clause 135. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 134, wherein theperiod is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.

Clause 136. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-125,wherein the location information report based on the positioningmeasurements for the UE comprises one of positioning measurementsperformed by the UE based on downlink (DL) positioning reference signals(PRS) received by the UE, positioning measurements performed by a basestation based on uplink (UL) PRS transmitted by the UE, or a combinationthereof; and wherein the program code including instructions todetermine the position estimate for the UE comprises instructions togenerate the position estimate using the positioning measurements forthe UE received in the location information report.

Clause 137. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-136,wherein the location information report based on the positioningmeasurements for the UE comprises the position estimate for the UE thatis determined by the UE.

Clause 138. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-137,wherein the location information report based on the positioningmeasurements for the UE comprises a time stamp for the positioningmeasurements, and wherein the position estimate for the UE includes thetime stamp for the positioning measurements.

Clause 139. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-138,wherein the first location request message and the second locationrequest message are for periodic positioning of the UE.

Clause 140. The non-transitory storage medium of any of clauses 130-139,wherein the UE and the location server are a sensor and the first entityis a motion controller in a motion control system using the TSNframework.

Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited tothe particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject mattermay also include all aspects falling within the scope of appendedclaims, and equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by an entity in a wirelessnetwork of positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, comprising: receiving a location request message that includesa first time point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) frameworkfor performing positioning measurements for the UE; receivingpositioning reference signals (PRS) from one or more other entities inthe wireless network; performing the positioning measurements using thePRS from the one or more other entities at the first time point withinthe TSN framework specified in the location request message forperforming the positioning measurements; and transmitting to a locationserver a location information report related to the positioningmeasurements.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location requestmessage further includes a second time point for providing the locationinformation report, wherein the location information report istransmitted to the location server at or before the second time point.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity in the wireless networkcomprises the UE and the PRS are downlink PRS.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the entity in the wireless network is a base station and the PRSare uplink PRS.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless networkand the TSN framework are synchronized in time.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the first time point within the TSN framework specified inthe location request message for performing the positioning measurementscomprises a global sampling point.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theglobal sampling point comprises a period and a phase.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the period is a TSN cycle and the phase is a timeinstant within the period.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the entityis the UE and the one or more other entities comprise one or more basestations, the method further comprising: determining a position estimatefor the UE based on the positioning measurements; wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises theposition estimate for the UE.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising receiving positioning measurements from the one or more otherentities, and wherein determining the position estimate for the UE isfurther based on the positioning measurements received from the one ormore other entities.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements comprises thepositioning measurements.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS; and transmitting PRSto the one or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for transmitting ULPRS.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information reportrelated to the positioning measurements comprises a time stamp for thepositioning measurements.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein thelocation request message is for periodic positioning of the UE.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the UE is a sensor in a motion control systemusing the TSN framework.
 16. An entity in a wireless network configuredto perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, comprising: an external interface configured to wirelesslycommunicate with one or more network entities in the wireless network;at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the externalinterface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to: receive, via the external interface, alocation request message that includes a first time point within a timesensitive networking (TSN) framework for performing positioningmeasurements for the UE; receive, via the external interface,positioning reference signals (PRS) from one or more other entities inthe wireless network; perform the positioning measurements using the PRSfrom the one or more other entities at the first time point within theTSN framework specified in the location request message for performingthe positioning measurements; and transmit, via the external interface,to a location server a location information report related to thepositioning measurements.
 17. The entity of claim 16, wherein thelocation request message further includes a second time point forproviding the location information report, wherein the locationinformation report is transmitted to the location server at or beforethe second time point.
 18. The entity of claim 16, wherein the entity inthe wireless network comprises the UE and the PRS are downlink PRS. 19.The entity of claim 16, wherein the entity in the wireless network is abase station and the PRS are uplink PRS.
 20. The entity of claim 16,wherein the wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized intime.
 21. The entity of claim 16, wherein the first time point withinthe TSN framework specified in the location request message forperforming the positioning measurements comprises a global samplingpoint.
 22. The entity of claim 21, wherein the global sampling pointcomprises a period and a phase.
 23. The entity of claim 22, wherein theperiod is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.24. The entity of claim 16, wherein the entity is the UE and the one ormore other entities comprise one or more base stations, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to: determine a positionestimate for the UE based on the positioning measurements; wherein thelocation information report related to the positioning measurementscomprises the position estimate for the UE.
 25. The entity of claim 24,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receivepositioning measurements from the one or more other entities, andwherein the at least one processor is configured to determine theposition estimate for the UE further based on the positioningmeasurements received from the one or more other entities.
 26. Theentity of claim 16, wherein the location information report related tothe positioning measurements comprises the positioning measurements. 27.The entity of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: receive, via the external interface, a request totransmit PRS that includes the first time point within the TSN frameworkfor transmitting the PRS; and transmit, via the external interface, PRSto the one or more other entities at the first time point within the TSNframework specified in the location request message for transmitting ULPRS.
 28. The entity of claim 16, wherein the location information reportrelated to the positioning measurements comprises a time stamp for thepositioning measurements.
 29. The entity of claim 16, wherein thelocation request message is for periodic positioning of the UE.
 30. Theentity of claim 16, wherein the UE is a sensor in a motion controlsystem using the TSN framework.
 31. An entity in a wireless networkconfigured to perform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, comprising: means for receiving a location requestmessage that includes a first time point within a time sensitivenetworking (TSN) framework for performing positioning measurements forthe UE; means for receiving positioning reference signals (PRS) from oneor more other entities in the wireless network; means for performing thepositioning measurements using the PRS from the one or more otherentities at the first time point within the TSN framework specified inthe location request message for performing the positioningmeasurements; and means for transmitting to a location server a locationinformation report related to the positioning measurements.
 32. Theentity of claim 31, wherein the entity is the UE and the one or moreother entities comprise one or more base stations, the entity furthercomprising: means for determining a position estimate for the UE basedon the positioning measurements; wherein the location information reportrelated to the positioning measurements comprises the position estimatefor the UE.
 33. The entity of claim 31, further comprising: means forreceiving a request to transmit PRS that includes the first time pointwithin the TSN framework for transmitting the PRS; and means fortransmitting PRS to the one or more other entities at the first timepoint within the TSN framework specified in the location request messagefor transmitting UL PRS.
 34. A method performed by a location server ina wireless network of positioning of a user equipment (UE) within thewireless network, comprising: receiving a first location request messagefrom a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a first timepoint within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework; transmittingto one or more entities in the wireless network a second locationrequest message requesting positioning measurements for the UE to beperformed at the first time point received in the first location requestmessage; receiving a location information report from the one or moreentities based on positioning measurements for the UE performed at thefirst time point; determining a position estimate for the UE based onthe location information report; and transmitting the position estimatefor the UE to the first entity.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein thefirst location request message further includes a second time point forproviding the position estimate, wherein the position estimate istransmitted to the first entity at or before the second time point. 36.The method of claim 34, wherein the wireless network and the TSNframework are synchronized in time.
 37. The method of claim 34, whereinthe first time point within the TSN framework comprises a globalsampling point.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the global samplingpoint comprises a period and a phase.
 39. The method of claim 38,wherein the period is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant withinthe period.
 40. The method of claim 34, wherein the location informationreport based on the positioning measurements for the UE comprises one ofpositioning measurements performed by the UE based on downlink (DL)positioning reference signals (PRS) received by the UE, positioningmeasurements performed by a base station based on uplink (UL) PRStransmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; and wherein determiningthe position estimate for the UE comprises generating the positionestimate using the positioning measurements for the UE received in thelocation information report.
 41. The method of claim 34, wherein thelocation information report based on the positioning measurements forthe UE comprises the position estimate for the UE that is determined bythe UE.
 42. The method of claim 34, wherein the location informationreport based on the positioning measurements for the UE comprises a timestamp for the positioning measurements, and wherein the positionestimate for the UE includes the time stamp for the positioningmeasurements.
 43. The method of claim 34, wherein the first locationrequest message and the second location request message are for periodicpositioning of the UE.
 44. The method of claim 34, wherein the UE andthe location server are a sensor and the first entity is a motioncontroller in a motion control system using the TSN framework.
 45. Alocation server in a wireless network configured to perform positioningof a user equipment (UE) within the wireless network, comprising: anexternal interface configured to wirelessly communicate with one or morenetwork entities in the wireless network; at least one memory; at leastone processor coupled to the external interface and the at least onememory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive,via the external interface, a first location request message from afirst entity requesting locations for the UE at a first time pointwithin a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework; transmit, via theexternal interface, to one or more entities in the wireless network asecond location request message requesting positioning measurements forthe UE to be performed at the first time point received in the firstlocation request message; receive, via the external interface, alocation information report from the one or more entities based onpositioning measurements for the UE performed at the first time point;determine a position estimate for the UE based on the locationinformation report; and transmit, via the external interface, theposition estimate for the UE to the first entity.
 46. The locationserver of claim 45, wherein the first location request message furtherincludes a second time point for providing the position estimate,wherein the position estimate is transmitted to the first entity at orbefore the second time point.
 47. The location server of claim 45,wherein the wireless network and the TSN framework are synchronized intime.
 48. The location server of claim 45, wherein the first time pointwithin the TSN framework comprises a global sampling point.
 49. Thelocation server of claim 48, wherein the global sampling point comprisesa period and a phase.
 50. The location server of claim 49, wherein theperiod is a TSN cycle and the phase is a time instant within the period.51. The location server of claim 45, wherein the location informationreport based on the positioning measurements for the UE comprises one ofpositioning measurements performed by the UE based on downlink (DL)positioning reference signals (PRS) received by the UE, positioningmeasurements performed by a base station based on uplink (UL) PRStransmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; and wherein the atleast one processor is configured to determine the position estimate forthe UE by being configured to generate the position estimate using thepositioning measurements for the UE received in the location informationreport.
 52. The location server of claim 45, wherein the locationinformation report based on the positioning measurements for the UEcomprises the position estimate for the UE that is determined by the UE.53. The location server of claim 45, wherein the location informationreport based on the positioning measurements for the UE comprises a timestamp for the positioning measurements, and wherein the positionestimate for the UE includes the time stamp for the positioningmeasurements.
 54. The location server of claim 45, wherein the firstlocation request message and the second location request message are forperiodic positioning of the UE.
 55. The location server of claim 45,wherein the UE and the location server are a sensor and the first entityis a motion controller in a motion control system using the TSNframework.
 56. A location server in a wireless network configured toperform positioning of a user equipment (UE) within the wirelessnetwork, comprising: means for receiving a first location requestmessage from a first entity requesting locations for the UE at a firsttime point within a time sensitive networking (TSN) framework; means fortransmitting to one or more entities in the wireless network a secondlocation request message requesting positioning measurements for the UEto be performed at the first time point received in the first locationrequest message; means for receiving a location information report fromthe one or more entities based on positioning measurements for the UEperformed at the first time point; means for determining a positionestimate for the UE based on the location information report; and meansfor transmitting the position estimate for the UE to the first entity.57. The location server of claim 56, wherein the location informationreport based on the positioning measurements for the UE comprises one ofpositioning measurements performed by the UE based on downlink (DL)positioning reference signals (PRS) received by the UE, positioningmeasurements performed by a base station based on uplink (UL) PRStransmitted by the UE, or a combination thereof; and wherein the meansfor determining the position estimate for the UE comprises means forgenerating the position estimate using the positioning measurements forthe UE received in the location information report.